July 7 – Shamrock Rovers captain Roberto ‘Pico’ Lopes has renewed his call for the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to refuse to play this autumn’s Nations League fixture against Israel, insisting “some things are bigger than football” ahead of Wednesday night’s Extraordinary General Meeting.
The Cape Verde international, who returned to Dublin this week after helping his side reach the last 32 of the World Cup before bowing out in style in extra time to Argentina, has emerged as one of the leading voices opposing the fixture in his role as chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland.
FAI delegates will vote on a board motion that seeks to reaffirm the association’s commitment to fulfilling its UEFA obligations while acknowledging the widespread concern surrounding the fixture.
Lopes, however, believes the match should not go ahead under any circumstances.
“My decision hasn’t changed, the game for me has to be stopped, it shouldn’t be played,” he said.
“I know they were talking about neutral venues, it’s not really solving the problem, it’s just moving it. So I think hopefully the EGM goes the right way, some things are bigger than football and this is definitely one of them.
“My stance hasn’t changed, the game shouldn’t be played and hopefully the right decision will come out of it.”
The issue has become one of the most divisive Irish football has faced in years. UEFA has already relocated Israel’s home fixtures to neutral venues because of the ongoing security situation, but that has done little to ease opposition from players and supporters in Ireland.
Lopes said footballers should never have been left carrying the burden of deciding whether to represent their country in such circumstances.
“It’s an incredibly hard position for players to be in. They shouldn’t have to answer this question. They shouldn’t be in this situation. It should have been taken away from them.
“As players’ unions, we need to protect those players and I think that’s why the PFA Ireland were so vocal on it because our interest is the players and we have to look after them.
“And if the players don’t want to play that game – and we’ve seen the results in our league alone, where the majority don’t feel comfortable with the game being played, and that has to extend on to national teams as well.
“Is anyone going to refuse to play for their country? Probably not, it’s a very difficult position to be put in.
“It needed to be taken out of their hands and it hasn’t been and we still need to make those calls and bang on the door for the powers-that-be to stop the game.”
The PFA Ireland’s campaign has also attracted attention beyond Ireland. Lopes revealed the union has received backing from world players’ body FIFPRO, which has followed developments closely as national associations wrestle with the sporting and political implications of Israel’s participation in UEFA competitions.
“There’s a few people in FIFPRO who have been in touch with me and they’re really impressed with what we’re doing and they’re encouraging more federations to have a stance.
“It just goes to show we’re not just shouting and people aren’t hearing.
“People are actually looking at what we’re doing and they’re impressed and they are saying, ‘we need more people to stand up like PFA Ireland have done’.
“This is coming from FIFPRO themselves and they’re probably looking internally to see what more they can do to help associations.”
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at [email protected]