Irish basketball players in ‘very difficult position’ ahead of Israel fixture, Minister says

Irish basketball players have been put in a “very difficult position” regarding their fixture against Israel later on Thursday, the Dáil has been told.

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said “leadership” and “decisiveness” were needed from FIBA, the International Basketball Federation.

The Fianna Fáil TD said the current situation was “not fair” on the players, and a decision to withdraw from the game “should not fall on them”.

[ Mary Hannigan: Ireland’s basketball team left in impossible position as they travel to play Israel ]

Ireland‘s game against Israel in the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 qualification competition takes place on Thursday evening. It was originally due to take place in Israel last November but was postponed due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, and later rescheduled for a neutral venue in Riga, Latvia.

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Basketball Ireland has insisted it cannot afford the financial or competitive implications of not playing the game, with its chief executive John Feehan stating the potential sanctions could set the Ireland women’s team back a decade.

Mr McGrath was responding to Sinn Féin TD Mark Ward, who outlined how photographs were published online this week of the Israeli team posing with armed members of the Israeli Defence Forces in Tel Aviv.

In addition, a member of the Israeli squad told Israel’s official basketball website that it was “known that they [Ireland] are quite anti-Semitic”.

Mr Ward said these comments were “another attempt” to intimidate the Irish basketball team.

“Taking a stand against mass displacement and the murder of innocent people is not anti-Semitism,” he said. “Being anti-genocide is not anti-Semitism. The behaviour of the Israeli team alone this week should be enough for Basketball Ireland to withdraw from the match. It’s not too late to do the right thing.”

[ Martha Byrne defends Dubs’ stance as Ireland’s basketball players face Israel ]

The Dublin Mid-West TD asked the Minister whether the Government condemned Israeli basketball players posing with guns and labelling Irish athletes anti-Semitic.

In response, Mr McGrath said the Government’s position on what was happening in the Middle East was very clear and it was continuing to call for an immediate humanitarian cease.

However, he said the Government does not interfere in decisions that are “appropriately made by relevant sporting organisations when it comes to fulfilling fixtures”.

“Were the Government to get into that space, I think it would be completely wrong and inappropriate,” he said. “I do believe that the players themselves have been placed in a very difficult position, but it’s not because of the Government or Basketball Ireland.

“What we need here is leadership and a decision and decisiveness from FIBA, from the international organisation who are putting individual players or individual countries into a position where they have to make the call, which can impact on their own careers and also impact on their ability to compete in the future and on funding.

“It’s not fair on them – and it should not fall on them to make that decision.”

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