Our national broadcaster must stand up and lead the way by not broadcasting fixtures against Israel which are due to take place this year, according to Social Democrats sports spokesperson Sin\u00e9ad Gibney.<\/p>\n
Deputy Gibney said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve written to RT\u00c9 to ask that the planned Irish National Men’s Team fixtures in the Nations League versus Israel are not broadcast if the matches are to proceed.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, RT\u00c9 took a laudable stance in response to Israel\u2019s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest by opting to not broadcast or participate in the 2026 competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve asked that RT\u00c9 now makes the same commitment in this case – it is unconscionable to support the sportswashing endeavours of a country whose regime is committing genocide and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians by broadcasting and legitimizing their sporting pursuits.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe games should categorically not be played, as a reflection of the deep revulsion of the Irish people at the ongoing genocide in Gaza. But, if they are to go ahead, it\u2019s vital that our national broadcaster refuses to platform any extension of Netanyahu\u2019s terror state, sending a clear message in defence of human rights and international law.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is nothing political about human rights and international law violations – boycotting interacting with a country which is actively murdering innocents and stealing their land is a moral choice, not a political one.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we saw with Poland and Sweden\u2019s boycott of fixtures with Russia after it began its illegal invasion of Ukraine, standing up and leading on this issue is the only way to let UEFA know that there is no place for Israel in international football while it continues its destruction of Palestine.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny penalty imposed by UEFA on the FAI should be compensated by the government – this is a small price to pay to show solidarity with Palestine and place ourselves on the right side of history.\u201d<\/p>\n
February 26th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our national broadcaster must stand up and lead the way by not broadcasting fixtures against Israel which are due to take place this year, according to Social Democrats sports spokesperson Sin\u00e9ad Gibney. Deputy Gibney said: \u201cI\u2019ve written to RT\u00c9 to ask that the planned Irish National Men’s Team fixtures in the Nations League versus Israel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[529,718,738,7,685,497,683],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaza","category-israel","category-palestine","category-press-release","category-rte","category-sinead-gibney","category-sports"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n