{"id":11939,"date":"2026-02-13T14:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T14:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/11939\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T14:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T14:20:10","slug":"from-johnny-logans-eurovision-win-to-bohemians-patrick-vieira-and-oslo-protests-the-israel-dilemma-that-faces-the-fai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/11939\/","title":{"rendered":"From Johnny Logan’s Eurovision win to Bohemians, Patrick Vieira and Oslo protests – the Israel dilemma that faces the FAI"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exploring the likely outcome of negotiations that are set to take place ahead of Ireland\u2019s Nations League games against Israel.<\/p>\n

Johnny Logan in 1987(Image: Independent Newspapers Ireland\/NLI Collection)<\/p>\n

In the venue where Johnny Logan won the Eurovision in 1987 with Hold Me Now, Ireland\u2019s Nations League fate was sealed.<\/p>\n

That song is belted out at every Bohemians home game – and it was Bohs that tabled the motion at last November\u2019s FAI AGM, which won the support of delegates, urging UEFA and FIFA to kick Israel out of international competition.<\/p>\n

As for the Eurovision<\/a>, Ireland won\u2019t be competing in this year\u2019s Song Contest because of Israel\u2019s<\/a> presence in the competition.<\/p>\n

Strange times.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Johnny Logan at Bohemians’ Dalymount Park stadium(Image: INPHO\/Cathal Noonan)<\/p>\n

The draw that placed the Boys in Green<\/a> in League B3 of the Nations League<\/a> with Israel has ensured that this will be no ordinary campaign.<\/p>\n

Within minutes of the teams being paired together – along with Austria and Kosovo – the FAI<\/a> issued a statement confirming that the fixtures against Israel would be fulfilled.<\/p>\n

That led to an angry response from Sinn F\u00e9in, who called on the Association to boycott the games.<\/p>\n

Logistically, Israel\u2019s visit to Dublin would be a nightmare – and not just for the FAI.<\/p>\n

As one colleague remarked on Thursday night after the draw, what hotel would put them up, and draw thousands of protesters to their doors for the duration of their stay?<\/p>\n

The depth of feeling within this country towards the plight of Palestinians, who have been killed in their tens of thousands over the past two-and-a-half years at the hands of Israel, will ensure this is a game like no other.<\/p>\n

Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson<\/a> was trying his best to stick to football in the wake of the draw.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Heimir Hallgrimsson is interviewed after the UEFA Nations League draw at Brussels Expo(Image: Alex Bierens de Haan – UEFA\/UEFA via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m going to focus on the football side,\u201d he insisted. \u201cIt’s going to be a tough group. It’s going to be a tough group.\u201d<\/p>\n

But unfortunately this is about more than just football.<\/p>\n

As Bohemians COO Daniel Lambert, a strong advocate for the rights of Palestinians, pointed out<\/a> on RT\u00c9 radio on Friday morning, the draw has shone a light on UEFA\u2019s disregard for its own rule book.<\/p>\n

\u201cUEFA\u2019s own statute book says that Israel should not play in UEFA competition,\u201d he said, citing the presence of Israeli club teams on occupied territories.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all being done a disservice by UEFA. The board of UEFA are refusing to implement their own rule book and that is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FAI has been stronger than any other national governing body in opposing Israel\u2019s continued involvement in international competition.<\/p>\n

As a nation, Ireland has been louder than most in condemning Israel\u2019s offensive in Gaza, which has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians.<\/p>\n

We are one of the few countries to formally recognise the state of Palestine.<\/p>\n

Tensions between the two countries have seen Israel withdraw their ambassador to Ireland.<\/p>\n

And there was Ireland\u2019s intervention in South Africa\u2019s case at the International Court of Human Rights against Israel.<\/p>\n

Israeli football authorities have come out and said that they are eager to host games in Tel Aviv once again.<\/p>\n

They have not played an international game on home soil since their bombardment of Gaza began two and a half years ago – and are unlikely to be permitted to do so later this year.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, what will probably happen is that the two games between these two countries will take place on neutral territory.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed and security officials will likely see the visit of the Israeli football team as far too problematic.<\/p>\n

Israel have hosted teams in Hungary, mostly Debrecen. The FAI would have to come up with a venue of their own in such an outcome.<\/p>\n

They wouldn\u2019t be the first to host Israel on foreign soil. Almost a year into the Gaza conflict, Belgium played a home game against Israel in Debrecen, while Budapest was the stage for their \u2018away\u2019 game.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued at the time, the Belgian FA wrote: \u201cAs no local authority in Belgium considers it possible to host the Red Devils’ home match against Israel on Friday 6 September, the Royal Belgian Football Association has had to seek a solution abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn consultation with UEFA, it was decided to play the match at the Nagyerdei stadium in Debrecen, behind closed doors.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the city of Brussels indicated that the home match against Israel would not take place at the King Baudouin Stadium, the RBFA wrote to several cities with a UEFA-compliant stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter extensive consultation, the mayors of these cities – for security reasons – did not give their approval to host the match in their cities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norway did host Israel in Oslo for a World Cup qualifier last October, but with a reduced capacity.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Fans of Norway hold up a giant Palestine flag and a banner with the message ‘Let Children Live’ during the World Cup 2026 qualifier against Israel(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Protests outside the stadium led to police using tear gas, while Palestinian flags were waved throughout Norway\u2019s 5-0 win, and a fan ran onto the pitch during the first-half wearing a t-shirt with \u2018Free Gaza\u2019 written on it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Thousands of people protest ahead of the Norway-Israel match in October 2025(Image: Halil Sagirkaya\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

These incidents will all come into consideration as the various bodies – security and sporting – consider their options ahead of the Nations League.<\/p>\n

National associations must submit their venue of choice 120 days before a match – so that means a June 7 deadline for the Israeli FA and June 14 for the FAI, for games that take place on September 27 and October 4.<\/p>\n

On Thursday night, when France legend and Roy Keane\u2019s one-time nemesis Patrick Vieira drew Ireland in League B3 alongside Israel, the camera panned to an Irish delegation in Brussels Expo that sat stony faced.<\/p>\n

Quite a contrast from the reaction 39 years ago at that same venue, when Johnny Logan\u2019s sang his way to victory – and ultimately to a cult following within a club that has become the needle in Irish football\u2019s moral compass.<\/p>\n

Click here to sign up to our sport newsletter, bringing you the top stories and biggest headlines from Ireland and beyond<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Exploring the likely outcome of negotiations that are set to take place ahead of Ireland\u2019s Nations League games…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[9175,9174,9176,9165,9181,9180,3126,9173,157,156,5258,9179,9177,9178],"class_list":{"0":"post-11939","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oslo","8":"tag-bohemian-fc","9":"tag-eurovision-song-contest","10":"tag-fai","11":"tag-fifa","12":"tag-gardai","13":"tag-heimir-hallgrimsson","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-johnny-logan","16":"tag-norway","17":"tag-oslo","18":"tag-republic-of-ireland-national-football-team","19":"tag-sinn-fein","20":"tag-uefa","21":"tag-uefa-nations-league"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}