The Football Association of Israel accused Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson of ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity on Monday night after the coach said his team were playing against genocide ahead of their upcoming international fixtures.
The Israeli governing body issued a statement on social media platform X following comments made by Hallgrimsson over the weekend. Reports also circulated that Israeli football authorities are considering filing an official complaint to European football governing body UEFA.
Hallgrimsson made the remarks while previewing Ireland's upcoming schedule. The Icelandic manager defended his squad by stating, "And I've said before, we're not playing with genocide, we're playing against genocide," when referring to their matches against Israel.
In its response on X, the Israeli FA wrote that Israel has contributed to humanity in countless fields and earned an impressive number of Nobel Prizes. The post added that the organization had not found a cure for the "stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy" displayed by the Irish head coach, adding, "We're not playing with ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity, we're playing against the coach who embodies them."
Upcoming fixtures in Europe
Hallgrimsson oversaw training at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown as Ireland prepared for a fixture against Kosovo in Pristina on Thursday. However, attention has centered on two upcoming matches against Israel scheduled to take place at neutral venues in Eastern Europe.
Ireland are set to meet Israel in Debrecen, Hungary, on Sunday. The teams are scheduled to play a return fixture a week later in Backa Topola, Serbia. UEFA has required Israeli national teams to host international fixtures at neutral venues due to ongoing security concerns in the region.
Open letter calling for boycott
Meanwhile, the Stop the Game campaign published an open letter on Monday calling on Irish players not to fulfill the scheduled fixtures against Israel. The letter was signed by more than 100 figures from across the sporting world.
Prominent signatories included European champion runner Ciara Mageean, Ireland women international footballer Louise Quinn, former rugby international Tony Ward, and former Gaelic football players Joe Brolly and Colm O'Rourke.
The campaign group claimed in the letter that pressure was being applied directly to the players because previous attempts to influence administrative and political leadership had yielded no results.
The letter stated, "The FAI, UEFA, and the Irish Government have all failed you by not taking decisive action and taking this out of your hands."
The Football Association of Ireland had previously sought to have Israel suspended from international football competitions over the conflict in Gaza. The FAI serves as the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland, while UEFA manages European competitions.
