Sunday evening’s latest controversial Group B3 fixture is technically a home game for Ireland, but is taking place not in Dublin but on neutral ground in the remote Serbian town of Backa Topola due to “operational reasons”, with no fans in attendance.
Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side played the match despite repeated calls to boycott it amid the ongoing war in Gaza and the ‘Stop the Game’ campaign organised by pressure group Irish Sport for Palestine.
They held a player vote on the eve of the game during a four-hour summit at their team hotel that caused significant delays to both their pre-match press conference and final training session.
However, the two sets of players and captains did not shake hands or exchange pennants ahead of the game and Ireland bowed their heads during the playing of the Israeli national anthem, also wearing black armbands – with Cardiff winger Moylan kissing his after scoring.
There were no handshakes between the players ahead of kick-off last weekend
AFP/Getty
Hallgrimsson confirmed that his side would fulfil their second game against Israel too, having drawn 2-2 with Austria at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday in a game disrupted by protestors throwing tennis balls bearing Palestinian flags on to the pitch. A man carrying a Palestinian flag also ran on to the pitch and caused another delay.
Bolton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu returned to the squad for that match, but will again withdraw and play no part against Israel, who drew 0-0 with Kosovo in Hungary on Thursday.
Is Ireland vs Israel on TV?
Coverage of the match in Ireland looks set to mirror last week, when RTE’s stripped-back approach included no studio presentation, pundits, dedicated RTE commentator or half-time analysis, with the commentary taken instead from the international feed.
Their broadcast began 10 minutes before kick-off at 7:35pm BST on RTE 2, which is again the case on Sunday.
A minimal technical team will again be deployed, with RTE not taking any advertising or sponsorship around either game.
As with the first match, live coverage of the Republic of Ireland vs Israel is also available via Amazon Prime Video’s pay-per-view service, at a cost of £2.49. That broadcast also begins at 7:35pm on Sunday night.
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