FAI blindside Uefa by delaying press conference to afternoon start time ahead of Israel game

LAST UPDATE | 3 hrs ago

David Sneyd reports from Nagyerdei Stadion

An editorial note re: The 42’s reporting on the Uefa Nations League matches between Ireland and Israel is available to read here.

THE FAI HAVE risked a fine from Uefa after blind siding the governing body by announcing a delay of over two hours to the pre-match conference ahead of the Israel game in Hungary.

The press conference will now take place at 2.30pm Irish time for 15 minutes with team training to follow as doubts continue over the fixture in Debrecen on Sunday.

Republic of Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrímsson and a player were due to speak to the media at 9.15am Irish time. However, 15 minutes before it was due to start a message came through from the association that it would happen after the team’s training session at the Nagyerdei Stadion.

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A Uefa delegate in attendance confirmed that the European governing body only found out at the same time and that one potential punishment is a fine.

The 42 understands that a statement on behalf of the players was due to be released before the press conference took place laying out their stance on fulfilling Sunday’s fixture.

It is now understood that fulfilling the fixture hangs in the balance as the squad gathered for a team meeting with Hallgrímsson about whether to play against Israel.

The squad met to discuss their feelings and options available to them and while a boycott is understood to be unlikely there was a sense of anger and frustration at the situation the players have been put in, as detailed earlier today.

“I don’t think the game should be going ahead but it is going ahead. We’ll have a deeper talk about it and what that means, we’ll get our thoughts as a group and go from there,” Jason Knight said on Thursday.

“I think it was a difficult one. It’s obviously big talk in Ireland. I have been focusing on my football in England in the Championship. But I knew this was coming so I had a think about it.

“We had chats about it with the players, and more senior players on what the step will be. Now we’re here, we can have a really in depth talk of what that means and what the consequences are. We’ll do that [on Friday] and go from there.

International teammate Chiedozie Ogbene also expressed his deep unease. “I am a practising Catholic and I have morals. I do not agree with what is happening. I feel sorry for the civilians, and that is where my heart is, the people who are being affected.

“I am not an idiot, I see some messages, fans have made their opinions heard, but I try not to read as much as I can.

“If the game goes ahead, that does not mean we are best friends with Israel. It is the Israeli government who are making decisions. These questions, I’ll be honest with you, the best people to answer them are in Uefa, not us. That’s the honest truth.”