The Republic of Ireland have postponed their pre-match press conference for Sunday’s Uefa Nations League encounter with Israel in Hungary, amid calls from campaigners to boycott the fixture.
Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side are due to face Israel in Debrecen at 19:45 BST, before playing the return match in Backa Topola, Serbia, on 4 October.
The team have been urged to pull out of both fixtures because of the continuing conflict in Gaza. Support for the “Stop The Game” campaign, organised by Irish Sport for Palestine, has continued to grow.
Former Republic of Ireland coach Brian Kerr and retired international James McClean are among the prominent figures supporting the proposed boycott.
Other Irish fans, though less outspoken, maintain that the match should proceed and that spectators should be allowed to attend.
Hallgrimsson and one of his players had been expected to speak to reporters at 09:15 BST (10:15 local time), ahead of training, but the media briefing was postponed shortly before it was due to begin.
An official entered the room and told the assembled journalists that the conference had been moved until after training, placing its expected start at about 11:30 BST (12:30 local time).
Soon afterwards, the official returned to announce that the Republic of Ireland’s training session had also been delayed. No revised schedule was provided for either the session or the press conference.
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