Irish goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu was reportedly verbally abused by a team-mate after his decision to withdraw from their clash against Israel on grounds of conscience.
And multiple players have ‘turned’ on the goalkeeper, with ‘genuine anger’ towards him leaving the player ‘brutally isolated’, according to the Irish Times.
The rest of the Ireland squad ultimately decided to play the match after a four-hour meeting – before refusing to shake the opposition’s hands, bowing their heads during the Israel national anthem, and wearing black armbands.
Their meeting at their hotel in Kosovo, where they had played their previous fixture, ran on so long that the Irish delegation reportedly had to delay their charter flight to Hungary, where they faced Israel.
Bazunu’s decision did lead some players to consider pulling out alongside him, the Irish Times claims, before a ‘significant majority’ voted in favour of playing the game and protesting.
Some wondered how refusing to play the match might affect their international careers.
Gavin Bazunu’s Ireland team-mates were reportedly ‘genuinely angry’ that he refused to play against Israel – and one even ‘verbally abused’ the conscientious objector
The rest of the Irish squad went ahead with the game but refused to shake hands and bowed their heads during Israel’s national anthem
It is also reported that while the Football Association of Ireland contacted players ahead of the international break to ascertain whether they would be comfortable playing against Israel, they had not reached out to Bazunu, perhaps assuming he would not be selected.
The Bolton custodian justified his decision by saying: ‘I am a man of strong faith and try my best to be a person of character and principle’.
‘My decision is based purely upon my belief that the killing of innocent people is wrong.
‘It is important to note that my stance is not in opposition to the Israeli people or the Jewish community but against the atrocities in the region.
‘There are few times when you get a chance in life to stand for something bigger and I strongly believe that this is one of them.’
A source close to the player last night told The Mail on Sunday the Dubliner’s family is proud of him for standing up for his beliefs.
‘Gavin is a hero,’ they said. ‘What he’s done took great courage. His family is proud.’
On Thursday night, Bazunu’s team-mate Jason Knight publicly shared his discomfort at the prospect of facing Israel.
Ireland’s substitutes and staff also looked at the floor during Israel’s anthem, with the squad having voted to play the match
Heimir Hallgrimsson was heavily criticised in Israel for saying Ireland are ‘playing against genocide’
‘I don’t think the game obviously should be going ahead but it is going ahead,’ said Knight. ‘We’ll have a deeper talk about it and what that means, we’ll get our thoughts as a group and go from there.
‘It is (uncomfortable). There is obviously a lot of talk and rightly so about the scenario we’re in, but I thought Dara spoke quite well (on Wednesday).
‘It’s a bigger spotlight obviously (around the Israel games) and not focused on the football itself. It’s very, very unusual and none of us have come into this scenario before so we’re learning on the fly as well. So we’ll talk as a group and see what is the best foot forward.’
Defender Dara O’Shea, meanwhile, admitted his side were in a ‘tough position’.
‘As soon as the game was decided by the FAI, the government and Uefa, we were always going to be put in a tough position. We feel exposed, it’s come down to us as such at the end,’ he said this week. ‘We knew that was going to be the case and this was going to come our way. It’s a difficult situation but we understand the severity of it too.
‘It doesn’t really necessarily matter my opinion entirely. It’s about the group’s decision. We’ve got to come together as one and navigate that ourselves. This is obviously slightly different.’
Ireland won 3-0 after first-half goals from Troy Parrott, Adam Idah and Jack Moylan, who took off his black armband and kissed it when celebrating. There were no handshakes at full time and Ireland’s players were booed as they left the field.
Manager Heimir Hallgrimsson had previously stirred controversy after saying his team are ‘playing against genocide’ amid Israel’s attacks on Palestine, where more than 70,000 people have been killed since the war in Gaza began.
Israel’s Sayed Abu Farchi was sent off on Thursday after mimicking a gunshot following a goal
Hallgrimsson’s comments sparked an angry backlash from Israeli officials, but there have been growing calls for the game to be scrapped by the Irish public – with a petition attracting over 17,000 signatures.
UEFA rules mean teams must name at least three goalkeepers in their squad and Bazunu’s withdrawal meant that Jimmy Dunne, the QPR centre back, was named as a keeper on the official team-sheet.
Irish broadcaster RTE cut back its screening of the game with no studio punditry, no advertising and only using commentary from an international feed.
Many pubs in Ireland refused to show the game and there were protests outside the team hotel in Dublin earlier in the week.
Ireland are set to play Israel again on Sunday but it will be behind closed doors at a neutral venue in Serbia.
