Exclusion of Israel from Sporting Fixtures: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-10
============================================================

Ciarán Ahern (LAB), Dublin South-West

On 24 February 2022, the same day that Putin launched his illegal invasion of Ukraine, Russia's World Cup qualifier play-off opponents, Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic, all announced they would refuse to play their matches on Russian soil. Three days later, those three countries announced they were all boycotting the fixtures in their entirety. These decisions were taken without the approval of FIFA. There was no hand-wringing about points deductions, world rankings or finances. They simply made the right decision. After these countries took this action themselves, FIFA then announced that Russia would be suspended indefinitely from international competitions and UEFA announced that Russian clubs would similarly be suspended. Those countries took that decision because, as it was put in a statement released by the Polish players and the Polish FA at the time, there are more important things in life than football.
This is a question of principles. Why is Russia's horrific and illegal war in Ukraine different from the genocide, the ethnic cleansing and the apartheid that Israel has inflicted on the Palestinian people? Israel should not be participating in sporting fixtures while it continues to bombard Gaza and Lebanon, expand settlements in the West Bank illegally and carry out its policies of apartheid. Hundreds of Palestinian footballers are among the victims of the genocide, including Suleiman al-Obeid, the "Palestinian Pelé", who was killed while he was waiting for humanitarian aid. The FAI must take the brave step and refuse to play against this genocidal regime, just as the Polish, Swedish and Czechs did before, and this Government must back them. It must reassure the FAI of its and our full support, financial, political and whatever else. Do not put this on the players. Football bodies take a stand on political issues all the time. They take stands against racism and against advertising alcohol, gambling and smoking. FIFA celebrates inclusivity and pride. These are all intensely political decisions. This decision is no different. Stop the game. Not here, not anymore.

---

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/2026-06-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-10