r/coybig • u/Inevitable-Beat-9209 • 7d ago
Media FAI's General Assembly preparing motion to boycott Israel games
https://www.the42.ie/fai-egm-israel-boycott-7053531-May2026/?utm_source=thescore&utm_content=top-stories123
u/Powerful-Adagio6446 Troy Parrott 🦜 7d ago
Let's hope it passes. There is no way that this game should be going ahead under any circumstances, and I hope if the country I live in but don't support (ENG) ever has the misfortune of playing them then I hope to see the same pressure applied here
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u/lkdubdub 7d ago
I've been of the firm belief for a while now that they won't go ahead. Maybe this will be the tipping point, or it'll be something else, but the opposition has been snowballing for some time
We may see expulsion from competition or whatever, I'll live with that, and I suspect most of the population would too.
I also believe we wouldn't stand alone. It's politically very difficult to be seen to act so definitively against Israel in the current environment, but I suspect at least some degree of opposition to facing Israel exists elsewhere too. If we stand up and cancel, even if neither of Kosovo or Austria joins in, there will be support expressed elsewhere
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u/Powerful-Adagio6446 Troy Parrott 🦜 7d ago
Well we know Austria won’t join in
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u/John__Delaney 7d ago
Austria & Kosovo both won't, but Israel will eventually have to play other teams. The punishment UEFA dish out will decide what happens next imo. I see 2 possible outcomes:
UEFA punishment is light, maybe just a forfeit and a fine. In this outcome others like Spain, Norway, Slovenia etc... begin to do the same and Israel's position becomes untenable like Russia
UEFA punishment is overly harsh, something like taking our 2028 hosting away and relegation to league C. In this outcome I see UEFA members being incredibly pissed. They'll demand the expulsion vote goes back on the table & israel then get booted out.
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u/spiralism 7d ago
Can see option 1, albeit with the Israelis awarded two wins by walkover. They'd be brazen enough to crow about having "won" afterwards too.
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u/lkdubdub 7d ago
Probably not, but there were small but significant pro-Palestinian protests on the streets of Vienna during Eurovision
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u/Powerful-Adagio6446 Troy Parrott 🦜 6d ago
Let’s hope that they’re already planning something like that in Bulgaria next year should Israel participate
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u/Specialist-Flow3015 7d ago
The UK establishment lost its mind and hounded a police chief from his job for (correctly) determining that noted Israeli football hooligans with a track record of starting action might start some action.
Far more likely England turn it into a massive show of support for Israel if they ever drew them.
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u/Blitz7798 Troy Parrott 🦜 6d ago
I live in England too me whilst I would fully support a boycott, I don’t think England would ever sacrifice a match. I hope we do tho and show that we’re better than England
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u/Affectionate_Let1462 7d ago
Get it done lads! Shame on anyone who votes against it or attends any game that goes ahead.
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u/jarraljrslim 7d ago
Irish fans need to boycott the game and leave the Aviva empty and the lads on the team need to step up and tell the FAI that they're not willing to play the match.
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u/TheGoat_46 7d ago
I think the game going ahead in an empty stadium would make headlines, but knowing people they would show up just to say they where there. I've no issue with a corrupt UEFA/FIFA banning us, none at all
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u/Emergency_Goat_6719 7d ago edited 6d ago
I'm caught in the conundrum that i have a season ticket.
I can boycott the game but no doubt my ticket will count towards the attendance stats anyway
Alternatively i can go and protest but that feels more wrong
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u/pc171 7d ago
I mean if you think the game is worth boycotting over genocide then one mark against your attendance isn’t a big deal
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u/Emergency_Goat_6719 6d ago
I don't care about the mark against attendance that i care about. It's the fact that me not going will be counted in the official attendance anyway and does nothing
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u/John_OSheas_Willy 6d ago
Nothing you do is going to do anything.
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u/Emergency_Goat_6719 6d ago
What's your point? Its about what sits right with me and my own internal morals.
99.99% of what i do has no impact but I do it because it's the right thing to do. Pretty sad if you dont
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u/Rigo-lution 6d ago
People weaponise futility as a way to discourage others from taking a moral stance.
They'd have told the Dunne's Stores strikers that they're wasting their time and should go back to work.0
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u/jarraljrslim 7d ago
Surely the season ticket only gets counted towards attendance if it gets scanned when entering no?
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u/danieltheisland 7d ago
I think it needs to be said that as well as not playing Israel we should also be cancelling the match against Qatar for their human rights abuses and modern day slavery.
We need to stop their attempts at sportswashing and it would have much less impact on the FAI as it's a friendly.
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u/WhizzyWizard1895 6d ago
This absolutely should not be in the players (or even the FAIs hands). However - If players are representing the country, they should be representing us by not playing.
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u/you_cant_win_rock 7d ago
Not Irish(Scottish sympathiser) and I understand you fellas have had a turbulent relationship with the FAI. But this is wholly commendable and I wish everyone would follow suit.
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u/MattyLaw06 7d ago edited 7d ago
I am also against the game being played, but I can see why the FAI are so stubborn about this. We cannot afford another fine. We're in crippling debt as it is. I'm pretty sure that's why the FAI are likely to go ahead with the game. UEFA are to blame for this as they're threatening the FAI with a fine or a sanction or whatever when they don't have the guts to ban Israel like they did instantly with Russia, and that is probably because the US are one of the host nations of the 2026 World Cup, and the US are also huge allies with Israel, so FIFA has to kind of suck up to both countries for the sake of the World Cup not being a shambolic failure, and if UEFA ban Israel, that might piss Trump off, and then there'll be a fallout between UEFA and FIFA, which could potentially lead to Trump falling out with Infantino.
I know I'm gonna get downvoted to hell for this, but you can't deny that it all traces back to FIFA and the World Cup. John Delaney didn't help either.
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u/AdStrange9701 Paul McGrath 6d ago
The Irish Govt need to ban anyone who has served in the IOF. A lot of the israeli players would not be able to enter the country. This could be under the remit of security concerns. Nothing UEFA could do about this.
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u/Unfair_Sympathy9413 6d ago
Who is Israel's next competitive game against after us? If we do boycott the game it'll put a lot of pressure on the next game to go ahead. Hopefully we will be the start of a snowball effect. Remember, UEFA never banned Russia initially. The teams that were due to play Russia in their next competitive games refused to fulfill the fixture. This is what forced UEFA's hand. It happened once, no reason it can't happen again.
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u/melbourne-marvels Liam Brady 2d ago
Yes there is. And that reason is teams know that the powers that be would not be on their side. Most of those countries know there would be consequences from the US if they boycotted Israel. American senators have already threatened countries with sanctions if they sanctioned Israelis. Kosovo, despite being a Muslin majority country would never boycott Israel. They have a good relationship with Israel and owe the US for the existence of their state.
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u/Shoddy_Suit9883 6d ago
Even if it passes its non binding so the end result is the exact same as the last motion. It ultimately goes nowhere.
The games are going to be played because UEFA insist on it and the FAI cant risk the implications on Irish football of the punishment.
Not playing them gives Israel a better chance of making the euros which we're hosting, hammer them on the pitch
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u/Inevitable-Beat-9209 6d ago
I'm not sure so, reading the text of the letter/motion puts the FAI in a very bad position.
" empower the membership to have a healthy debate on the issue [and] strengthen the FAI’s reputation as a principled, rules-based association that listens to its members and reflects overwhelming public sentiment in Ireland".
I do also feel that the tide is slowly turning and talking to people involved in grassroots football, there is a very strong feeling that the game should not be played, whatever the consequences.
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u/Shoddy_Suit9883 6d ago
Doesn't matter what the text is. Its non binding as are all general assembly motions. Fai legal advice is they have to play so until that or the uefa stance changes, it doesn't matter what the feeling is in the grassroots, the games will happen.
The consequences of the fai simply saying we aren't would be blowing a hole in the FAIs already stressed finances and for grassroots that is detrimental.
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u/Inevitable-Beat-9209 6d ago
Just taking your argument in good faith, how does this go "nowhere"?
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u/Shoddy_Suit9883 6d ago
When the general assembly pass a resolution it goes to the fai executive. They'll go to uefa and say this is from our members. Uefa do the same as they did the last time the general assembly passed the motion to call for Israel to be expelled and say thanks but we're not interested (their current position).
Any sort of non binding resolutions don't do much and wont change the executive position.
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u/Inevitable-Beat-9209 6d ago
I'm not so sure, I see where you are coming from on a procedural level. But i see cracks appearing everywhere. Its gonna take one high-profile person to take a stand on it, and the whole facade is gonna come crumbling down.
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u/melbourne-marvels Liam Brady 2d ago
I agree. There's no point shooting ourselves in the foot. Why give Israel six points by not playing the game? Play them in a closed stadium on a neutral territory.
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u/Darth_Memer_1916 6d ago
I still would much prefer playing against them, hammering the shit out of them on the pitch, and chanting Free Palestine in the stands.
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u/flex_tape_salesman Jeff Hendrick's account 7d ago
Its really an undeniable fact that boycotts lose almost all of their effectiveness when you go alone. This obviously makes it a very tricky situation for the FAI.
Its not really a surprise that other pro Palestine nations in Europe like Norway and Iceland have played their fixtures with Israel in recent times rather than boycotting. Failed boycotts tend to only benefit whoever is being boycotted.
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u/No-Lecture-6434 7d ago
It takes one to start a boycott. I truly believe if Ireland boycotts these games, then more will follow.
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u/heresyourhardware 7d ago
And Ireland has a history of being the ones to start those boycotts. Really hope we do the right thing.
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u/flex_tape_salesman Jeff Hendrick's account 7d ago
Who do you expect to follow? I think maybe a heavy hitter like Spain or italy(Italy unlikely) would be a boost. Scotland are plausible but its different when they're not facing them and Iceland and Norway would've been in the most likely category but they've already played Israel like Italy so its hard to say.
Few countries even gave up eurovision let alone football.
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u/Sstoop 7d ago
Spain would do it. Certain Spanish players would refuse to play as well id image
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u/John__Delaney 7d ago
And so would Norway, Slovenia & Sweden imo. All very pro palestine. We need to bear in mind that when the Times UK reported on the israel expulsion vote being considered, they claimed that a large majority had indicated they would vote em out.
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u/melbourne-marvels Liam Brady 2d ago
Norway wouldn't because they didn't. They did hold a protest in the stadium though.
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u/John__Delaney 2d ago
they didn't because the exec committee vote to expel Israel was on the horizon, now that votes been shelved. They will also be emboldened after Ireland takes the lead.
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u/flex_tape_salesman Jeff Hendrick's account 7d ago
That becomes controversial if Spain had a fixture expected. Its hard to say if they would actually join an FAI led boycott.
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u/heresyourhardware 7d ago
Lots of teams joined the Russia boycott, why would it be different? Spain have gone further than Ireland in opposing Israel's actions.
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u/Difficult_Tea6136 7d ago
Its really an undeniable fact that boycotts lose almost all of their effectiveness when you go alone.
I don't give a flying fuck. This is football, we don't have to play them. If other countries in UEFA don't have the balls, thats on them.
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u/lkdubdub 7d ago
We're not seeking to boycott Israel, we're just saying we're not going to legitimise the genocidal actions of a country by pretending all is well and normal over a kick about
Israel can continue to exist, we still maintain diplomatic relations with them, Israeli citizens are welcome in the country should they wish to visit, but we're not going to engage with them in the competition
If this was apartheid South Africa, or an attempt to organise a friendly with Russia, the fixture would be shut down on the day it was proposed. We're not seeking a cohesive boycott, or asking anyone else to follow, we're just trying to say, as a nation, we're not engaging
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u/draighneandonn 7d ago
Apartheid era SA is a useful comparison. The Dunnes Stores workers who refused to handle SA goods and went on strike acted out of principle and weren't concerned about who else would follow suit or add clout. It took several years before the world caught up.
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u/flex_tape_salesman Jeff Hendrick's account 7d ago
I don't think we are legitimising them. The FAIs position has been made clear. I wouldn't say Iceland or Norway were legitimising them. Obviously its a tough decision where these nations feel they are potentially sacrificing their football for no tangible gain.
Apartheid south Africa and Russia were different because there was general consensus. Even when 5 countries stepped away from eurovision it wasn't like the world fell like dominoes. Russia would be very different if a sizable portion of the western world was defending them
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u/lkdubdub 7d ago
It doesn't matter who defends them though. It's our view that counts. The FAI and government support fulfilling the fixtures, but the population is now speaking out to say we're not in favour. At the end of the day, neither the association or the government will get very far in any respect with the support of the people
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u/heresyourhardware 7d ago
I couldn't support this more. The game will be boycotted by fans anyway, at least some of the players don't want to (clearly), and I don't know how it could go off without trouble.
It was right to boycott South Africa, it is right to boycott this game too.
Whether it goes ahead of not I'll be boycotting it, and it'll be the first competitive game I will have missed in I'd say 15 years.