The Republic of Ireland have delayed the pre-match news conference planned for Sunday’s Uefa Nations League game against Israel in Hungary – a fixture campaigners have called on them to boycott.
Heimir Hallgrimsson’s team are scheduled to meet Israel in Debrecen at 19:45 BST, with the return fixture in Backa Topola, Serbia on 4 October.
They have faced calls to withdraw from the games because of the ongoing Israel-Gaza war with a “Stop The Game” campaign – organised by the pressure group Irish Sport for Palestine – gathering pace.
Former Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr and ex-international James McClean are among those to have backed calls for a boycott.
However, there are also Irish supporters, perhaps less vocal, who have always believed that the match should be played with supporters in attendance.
Following Thursday’s 1-0 defeat by Kosovo, midfielder Jason Knight opined he didn’t think “the game should be going ahead”, while winger Chiedozie Ogbene urged the public to not “put the pressure on us” regarding their approach to the scheduled game.
Hallgrimsson and a player were scheduled to meet the media at 09:15 BST (10.15 local time), before training, but the conference was delayed shortly beforehand.
A Uefa official entered the room to inform waiting media teams that the press conference was postponed until after training, which would have been about 11:30 BST (12.30 local time).
But shortly afterwards, the Uefa official returned to the media room to announce that the Republic of Ireland’s training session had also been postponed, with no time given for when it might take place. There is also no confirmed time for the news conference.
