Shamrock Rovers captain Roberto Lopes has put it plainly: "We can't ignore the humanitarian catastrophe in Palestine; the sheer loss of life there has to take precedence over any sporting consideration." He's one of the most prominent voices in a growing chorus inside Irish football calling on the FAI to pull out of its UEFA Nations League fixtures against Israel later this year.
The campaign, run by Irish Sport for Palestine under the banner "Stop the Game", has collected 38 signatories. Former Ireland men's manager Brian Kerr and Louise Quinn — the 2019 FAI women's player of the year — have both added their names. So have musician Christy Moore, Fontaines DC and Kneecap, which tells you this has moved well beyond the usual football discourse.
The FAI's position and what's at stake
The governing body isn't budging. FAI CEO David Courell said in February that Ireland has "no choice" but to play the fixtures, warning that forfeiting would result in "serious consequences" that would "materially harm the long-term sporting interests of Irish football." They've consulted the government and An Garda Síochána and confirmed the home tie will go ahead in Dublin.
That's a hard wall to argue against on purely procedural grounds. UEFA sanctions for refusing to play are no small matter — points deductions, fines, potential exclusion from future competitions. Any odds on Ireland performing well in the Nations League already factor in a squad on the pitch. A forfeit changes the entire picture.
But the open letter points to a specific tension the FAI hasn't fully addressed: the 93% vote by FAI members last year instructing the organisation to call for Israel's suspension from UEFA, and the letter's argument that UEFA's own statutes are being breached by Israeli teams playing on occupied Palestinian lands. If 93% of your members voted one way and you went the other, that's not just a political problem. It's a governance one.
Lopes, Cape Verde and the weight of the moment
There's something worth sitting with in Lopes's involvement specifically. He's the PFAI chair, Rovers captain, and is set to play for Cape Verde at this summer's World Cup. He has skin in the game of international football in a way most signatories don't, and he's still calling for the game to stop.
"Ireland has an opportunity here to lead — to be a pioneer and do what others won't," he wrote. Whether the FAI sees it that way is another matter entirely. Their statement suggests they don't — or at least, that they don't think the sporting cost is worth it.
The fixtures are scheduled. The FAI has confirmed participation. And 93% of its own members voted for something that directly contradicts that decision.
