The Republic of Ireland have announced that Sunday’s UEFA Nations League B3 fixture against Israel in Debrecen, Hungary, will proceed as planned.
On Saturday morning, there was considerable uncertainty over whether the match would take place.
A pre-match press conference featuring manager Heimir Hallgrimsson and a player had been set for 09:15 BST, but it was postponed only 15 minutes before its scheduled start. Reporters were told it would instead be held after the team’s training session.
The 10:00 BST training session also failed to begin as scheduled, with the squad remaining at their hotel while journalists moved there expecting an official statement.
The players were involved in a private meeting amid unconfirmed reports that several members of the squad, including goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, wanted to withdraw from the fixture. This raised further uncertainty about whether the match could proceed.
At approximately 13:00 BST, players started leaving the meeting room. It was subsequently confirmed that the press conference would be held at Nagyerdei Stadion at 14:30, followed by training.
More than five hours after the press conference was originally scheduled to start, Football Association of Ireland CEO David Courell, accompanied by Hallgrimsson and the association’s Director of Football, confirmed that a substantial majority of players had voted in favour of playing the match.
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