Republic of Ireland players repeated their stance of bowing their heads for the Israeli anthem and declining to take part in pre-match handshakes prior to the second of their highly charged Nations League fixture in Serbia.
Caoimhin Kelleher and Dor Peretz, who captained Ireland and Israel respectively on the night, did not shake hands prior to kick off.
The stance mirrored last weekend's fixture, when Dara O'Shea and Manor Solomon had led Ireland and Israel in Hungary. O'Shea missed the second match due to attending the birth of his child, while Solomon was only fit enough for the bench for Israel.
Solomon had previously vowed that his side would take 'revenge' after Ireland's 3-0 win in the first match, after which he said 'they hate us and we don't like them.'
The Irish team and officials came under huge pressure to boycott both fixtures due to Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
The calls to withdraw were part of a 'Stop The Game' campaign, organised by the pressure group Irish Sport for Palestine and supported by former Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr and ex-international James McClean.
Ireland players voted to play last weekend and wore black armbands in the fixture, which ended in a 3-0 victory. Players and staff, as well as lowering their heads during the Israeli national anthem, opted against exchanging pennants pre-match.
Heimir Hallgrimsson's players and staff repeated the stance pre-match in Backa Topola. The Serbian town had been selected to host the fixture after a Football Association of Ireland decision in June to move the match overseas.
Israel also wore black armbands for the second meeting, with UEFA approving a request to honour the memory of victims of attacks on October 7 in 2023, which saw around 1,200 people killed and 251 taken hostage.
Ireland were again without second choice goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, who made himself unavailable for both fixtures.
Finn Azaz, who has Israeli heritage, was again named on the bench having played the duration of Ireland’s other Nations League ties against Kosovo and Austria.
On the eve of the match, Ireland were forced to end Hallgrimsson's press conference early after his players were accused of using a racist term to describe Israel players by an Israeli journalist.
The journalist alleged that Ireland players had called their Israeli counterparts 'monkeys', prompting an immediate response from Ireland press officer Kieran Crowley, who said: 'That is completely untrue. That is completely untrue.'
An Irish official then attempted to take the microphone from the journalist who insisted that he was doing 'his job' and told him 'you cannot take it' in an attempt to keep hold of it.
Irish media reported prior to the match that two Israeli journalists had been banned by UEFA from attending the post-match press conferences following the chaos.
Source: Sport
