Republic of Ireland to 'fulfil' Nations League games against Israel because of disqualification risk

The Republic of Ireland will fulfil their Nations League fixtures with Israel due to the potential of disqualification, says the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).

Israel were drawn with the Republic of Ireland, Austria and Kosovo in League B3 in Thursday's draw.

In November, the FAI overwhelmingly approved a motion to call on Uefa to ban Israel from European club and international competitions.

In a statement following the draw, the FAI said it had consulted with Uefa and sanctions for not fulfilling a fixture could lead to disqualification from the Nations League.

In September, there were reports Uefa may hold a vote on whether to suspend Israel from club and international competition.

However, such a move never materialised and any prospect of that happening receded after the announcement of the Israel-Hamas peace plan for Gaza in October.

When asked about having to deal with possible implications of the Israel fixture, Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson said "it's not my job".

"That's not my job, my job is to focus on the football side and I'm going to do that," Hallgrimsson told BBC Sport in Brussels.

In November, the FAI approved a motion to call on Uefa to ban Israel from European club and international competitions for "violating two independent provisions of the Uefa statutes".

The "violations" cited were the "organisation of clubs in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank without the consent of the Palestinian Football Association" and a "failure to implement and enforce an effective anti-racism policy".

The FAI's statement read: "In 2025, a motion was proposed by members of the FAI General Assembly to vote on issuing a formal request to the UEFA Executive Committee for the immediate suspension of the Israel Football Association from UEFA competitions for a breach of UEFA statutes.

"Members then voted in favour to submit the motion to UEFA, which the Association did in November 2025.

"While consultation has taken place with Uefa officials, the Association does recognise that Uefa regulations outline that if an association refuses to play a match then that fixture will be forfeited and further disciplinary measures may follow – including potential disqualification from the competition."

Dates for fixtures for the Nations League have yet to be released but the competition is set to open with a quadruple header from 23 September until 4 October, before two final fixtures in November.

Israel played a the majority of their World Cup qualifiers in Hungary.

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