Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The game at the TSC Arena in Backa Topola will be played behind closed doors
- Published28 minutes ago
The Republic of Ireland's Nations League fixture with Israel will be played in Serbia after being moved from Dublin.
The game on 4 October will now take place at the TSC Arena in Backa Topola and will be played behind closed doors.
On 12 June, the Football Association of Ireland [FAI] confirmed the game would be played away from the Aviva Stadium after Uefa, European football's governing body, approved a request to move the fixture to a neutral venue.
It came after pressure to boycott the fixture built after protests took place outside the Dail (Irish parliament), while May's friendly with Qatar was twice disrupted when tennis balls featuring the Palestine flag were thrown onto the pitch.
A 'Stop the Game' campaign has also been launched by the group Irish Sport for Palestine.
Despite having faced calls to boycott the games, the FAI insisted it will fulfil the fixtures as pulling out of the matches would have "a profound impact on the whole of Irish football".
It said the result of not fulfilling the games would be the forfeiture of six points which could lead to relegation to League C in the Nations League and an impact on the team's Uefa and Fifa rankings, highlighting "the converse of these impacts would apply to Israel", increasing their chances of Nations League promotion and Euro 2028 qualification.
In a statement confirming the game would be moved on 12 June, the FAI quoted a statement from the Palestine FA saying that it "affirms its respect for the decision" made by the FAI to move the game to a neutral venue.
However, the Palestine FA released a statement of its own saying it "wished to clarify" that it has not issued any statement "endorsing, approving or supporting the decision to proceed with the match".
"Any interpretation suggesting the PFA has given its blessing to the fixture does not accurately reflect our position," it said.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the unprecedented Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
At least 73,035 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, including more than 21,280 children, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are seen as reliable by the UN.
The reverse fixture, for which Israel are the designated home team, will be played at the Nagyerdei Stadion in Debrecen in Hungary on 27 September.
