Sports Events
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-02
============================================================

Helen McEntee (FG), Meath East

The Deputy is right in that sense, but “above us” is talking about UEFA. I fully accept that the FAI has pressed for the exclusion of Israel from UEFA, and it is its right to do so. However, there is a lack of consensus among UEFA members beyond that and, indeed, among international sporting bodies more generally in relation to the exclusion of Israel from international sporting competitions. Similar to the Council, where there is a very clear view from a number of member states, including Ireland, that we need to take stronger action and go as far as suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement, there are other member states that do not agree with that. For that reason, we have not been able to reach a consensus.
I know that other countries, such as Russia and Belarus, have been excluded from international sporting events, but this is because there was a consensus among the international sporting bodies. I believe it is for the organisations, working with their parent bodies and the international organisations, to raise concerns and to be able to discuss this and vote on it. What is very clear, though, is that there is no consensus.
I believe views and positions are changing, given what we see from the Israeli Government with the introduction of the death penalty, which is very clearly targeting Palestinians; the worsening humanitarian situation; and the continuing escalation of settler violence. Even with the discussions on the ceasefire in Lebanon, there is clearly still activity happening on the ground, where citizens are not able to return home. I believe that things are changing and that the view of many countries, including the US, as we have heard, is shifting. However, we cannot as a Government tell UEFA or the other sporting organisations what they should be doing. I fully respect and take into account the position of our own sporting organisations and the view that they have expressed. I fully support their actions.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:14+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02