"People can criticise me and David, that's fine." That's John Martin, FAI Director of Football, stepping in front of the firing squad so Ireland's players don't have to.
With Republic of Ireland scheduled to face Israel twice in the UEFA Nations League — September 27 in Debrecen, Hungary, and October 4 in Backa Topola, Serbia — the pressure on players to boycott has been building for weeks. Martin's message to anyone reaching for blame: direct it at the association, not the footballers.
"It was a decision made by the association, by the board and by the executive," he told RTÉ Sport. "People like me and David Courell made this decision, not the players."
The FAI's logic — and the tightrope they're walking
Martin isn't pretending this is comfortable. He's been explicit that he doesn't actually want these games played. What's keeping the FAI from pulling out is the shadow of UEFA sanctions, which the board believes would cause lasting damage to Irish football infrastructure. That's the calculation — reputational pain now versus structural pain for years.
It's a defensible position, even if it's not a popular one. The extraordinary general meeting in July backed the board's decision by 68% to 32%, which gives Martin some institutional cover. But a vote among delegates is very different from public opinion, and that gap isn't closing.
Both games will be played without Irish supporters. The 'home' fixture in Serbia will be behind closed doors entirely, with only Israeli fans permitted for the September match. Ireland's Nations League odds are already compromised by the logistics and the atmosphere — or total lack of it — around these fixtures. Playing two competitive games in neutral and hostile environments, stripped of crowd support, is not a minor disadvantage.
Players can opt out — but someone still has to play
Martin confirmed that availability will be a personal choice for each player, with manager Heimir Hallgrimsson handling the individual conversations. That's the right call. Forcing players into a politically charged environment they're deeply uncomfortable with would be a different kind of failure.
But here's the tension that doesn't go away: if enough players opt out, Ireland field a weakened squad and the competitive damage is real. If they all show up, they carry the weight of a decision that wasn't theirs to make, in front of no home support, in a foreign stadium.
Martin's right that criticism should land on him and Courell. Whether it actually does is another matter entirely.
