Basketball Ireland CEO John Feehan has confirmed that Ireland will line out for their final FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2027 qualifier against Israel in March, saying the “sooner it’s over, the better.”
Having been drawn against Israel in the qualifiers for the second consecutive campaign, the association issued a statement expressing concern, and they considered withdrawing over Israel’s actions in Gaza, holding talks with FIBA Europe.
However given the potential punishment that FIBA Europe would invoke should Ireland boycott any games, Ireland went ahead with November’s first match, a game they lost 93-86 in the neutral venue of Latvia.
The return game takes place in Riga again and speaking at the launch of the National Cup finals, Feehan confirmed that Ireland will travel for the game in March.
When asked if Ireland still plan to play the fixture, Feehan replied: “Yes we do. At the end of the day, it’s not a position we’d like to be in, in any sense at all. But we are here and we are fulfilling the fixture.
“Everybody thinks these things through from start to finish, but at the end of the day, what’s best for basketball in Ireland is that we fulfil the fixtures.
“We just don’t believe that we’re in a position to not fulfil them at the end of the day. We’ve been in a situation over the last year and a half where we’ve had to play Israel three times already.
“This is just to finish out the group stages from our point of view with them. The sooner it’s over, the better.”
In 2024, Basketball Ireland were incensed by comments made by Israeli player Dor Sa’ar accusing the Irish of “anti-Semitism”, branding the accusation “inflammatory and wholly innaccurate”.
There was no pre-match handshake before that game. However, normal pre-match formalities were observed in the last game between the team teams in November.
The financial penalties for not playing March’s game would be severe, with a fine of €80,000 on the table for a boycott, but Feehan insists that it’s not just money that it forcing his hand.
“It’s not just the financial limits, the long-term harm it could do to us being excluded and things like that,” he said. “So at the end of the day, it was a hard decision. The board made the decision and we are fulfilling the fixture.
“I don’t think anybody is particularly happy that we’re playing this game, but it’s one of those things we have to do and that’s all there is to it.
“It’s not a case of being happy with it. Nobody is happy with it as such. We will get through this and that’s the way it is.”