No handshakes between Republic of Ireland and Israel
Republic of Ireland and Israel players did not shake hands before their controversial Uefa Nations League match in Hungary on Sunday. The teams also skipped the exchange of pennants, amid calls for Ireland to withdraw from the fixtures because of the Israel-Gaza war.
The Irish squad decided at a meeting on Saturday to play the match, despite a campaign urging them to stop it. Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu withdrew, saying he felt it would be wrong to take part in either the Sunday game or the return fixture in Serbia on 4 October. Ireland’s players wore black armbands in recognition of lives lost in the conflict.
- The teams did not shake hands before Sunday’s match.
- Ireland played despite calls to withdraw over the Gaza war.
- Gavin Bazunu withdrew from both fixtures.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Athletes occupy platforms of significant public influence, and using that influence to highlight humanitarian suffering—particularly civilian casualties in Gaza—represents a legitimate and proportionate form of moral conscience. Refusing handshakes is not preventing the match from occurring, but rather a symbolic gesture signalling that normal diplomatic courtesies should not proceed as usual when a conflict causes mass civilian harm. Political neutrality in sport is itself a political choice that implicitly accepts the status quo; history shows athletes have rightly taken stands on human rights.
The case against
Sport provides rare space where nations in conflict meet on equal terms without hostility, and this peaceful interaction carries intrinsic value independent of politics. Refusing basic courtesies to Israeli athletes treats them as representatives of their government rather than individuals, whilst forcing players into unwilling political statements violates their autonomy. If every geopolitical conflict becomes grounds for boycott and refusal of sporting protocols, international competition becomes impossible; maintaining non-political codes of conduct preserves sport as a domain where peoples can interact when diplomacy elsewhere has failed.