Ireland premier calls Israel Football Association's remarks on Irish football manager 'unacceptable'

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin backs Ireland manager as controversy grows ahead of two Nations League matches against Israel

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin has described criticism of Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson by the Israel Football Association as "unacceptable." Speaking to reporters in New York, Martin commented on the remarks by stating, "I think those are unacceptable remarks. They should be withdrawn." "I think [UN Chief] Antonio Guterres said that he had never in his lifetime seen the level and scale and death and destruction as he witnessed in terms of the Israeli government's war on Gaza in the aftermath of the horrific Hamas attack in October preceding the war," he said. "Our manager is saying the exact same thing. And Israel can't keep denying what the world knows and what the world understands," Martin added. The comments follow a statement from the Israel Football Association criticising Hallgrimsson for his remarks in response to being asked whether it was a challenge to keep his players focused ahead of Ireland's two matches against Israel. Hallgrimsson had said: "I've said before, we're not playing with genocide, we're playing against genocide. We're playing against Israel, we're not playing with Israel." The Israel Football Association responded on US social media company X by accusing the manager of "stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy." "We have contributed to the world and humanity in countless fields, earning an impressive number of Nobel Prizes along the way. Unfortunately, we have not yet found a cure for stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy displayed by Ireland's national team coach." it said, adding: We're not playing with ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity, we're playing against the coach who embodies them." Ireland face Israel in Hungary on Sept. 27 and will play the return fixture in Serbia on Oct. 4. Calls for a boycott of the matches have grown amid the devastation and destruction in Gaza. Since October 2023, Israel has killed nearly 74,000 Palestinians and injured over 174,000 others in its genocide in Gaza, while destroying around 90% of the enclave’s infrastructure. Violations of the 2025 ceasefire have killed at least 1,399 Palestinians and injured 4,863 others as of Sunday, according to the latest figures from Gaza’s Health Ministry.