Arguments between Israeli journalists and Irish media officials at a press conference on Saturday ahead of the two nations' UEFA Nations League clash this weekend resulted in an abruptly halted press conference that pushed tensions between the two sides higher.
One journalist asked Ireland's Icelandic coach Heimir Hallgrimsson about the flydubai incident when a co-pilot attacked a pilot on a flight travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv before passengers overpowered the attacker and successfully took control of the plane.
"What do you say about the people that you support? Their ideology is based on murder," she said, before being told by Kieran Crowley, Communications Manager at Football Association of Ireland (FAI), to only talk about football and the upcoming game.
Another journalist then accused the Irish players of calling Israeli players 'monkeys' during their previous clash last on September 27, an accusation that was immediately shot down by Crowley. "That's a lie. You've just broadcast a lie," Crowley said, before wrapping up the press conference.
The matches had been under the spotlight since the sides were drawn together in February, with Ireland one of Europe's most outspoken critics of Israel's war in Gaza. There have been numerous protests in Ireland asking for the team not to fulfil the fixtures with Israel. Such was the opposition to the Irish team playing Israel that the Football Association of Ireland chose to hold the game behind closed doors in Backa Topola, a small Serbian town of around 12,000 people, rather than in Dublin.
Reserve goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, who declined to be in the squad for the first game against Israel, will again be missing when the two sides meet in Serbia on October 4, and captain Dara O’Shea will also miss out due to the birth of his child. The FAI is continuing to investigate allegations that Irish players Adam Idah and James Abankwah were racially abused in Sunday’s 3-0 win over the Israelis in Hungary.