Uefa has opened an inquiry into allegations that a Republic of Ireland coaching staff member was spat at during Sunday’s tense Nations League match against Israel.
European football’s governing body confirmed that reports filed by match officials referred to an alleged incident in or near the tunnel at half-time. A disciplinary inquiry will examine possible misconduct involving one or more players.
People at the game in the Serbian town of Backa Topola said they heard an Irish staff member, believed to be fitness coach Damian Doyle, allege that an Israeli player spat at him while the teams entered the tunnel during the interval.
A representative of the Israeli Football Association rejected the allegation and said nobody had spat in the coach’s direction.
Following the match, Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson said his side had faced several apparent attempts at provocation before the game but had managed to prevent the situation from escalating.
Hallgrímsson said there had been several such incidents, but his team had shown enough composure to stop matters going too far. He believed the aim was to intimidate the Irish players and provoke an ill-judged reaction, praising them for keeping their emotions under control.
The inquiry is likely to prolong the tension surrounding the two matches between Ireland and Israel, which became entangled in wider geopolitical disputes. Ireland had faced strong calls from supporters at home to boycott the fixtures, and a vote was held on whether the team should play the opening game in Hungary.
The second fixture, officially designated as an Ireland home game, also took place in Backa Topola after the Football Association of Ireland said operational difficulties meant it could not be staged safely in Dublin.
The lead-up to the match featured increasingly hostile claims from both sides. Two Israeli reporters were barred from Ireland’s post-match press conference after Uefa ruled that they had damaged the reputation of football by using a media event for political purposes and had behaved inappropriately during and after an earlier press conference.
Hallgrímsson has requested that Ireland and Israel not be paired in future draws. A Uefa representative said decisions to keep particular teams apart depend on several considerations, especially relations between the countries and any resulting security risks. Each case is assessed individually, with relevant events and developments kept under review.
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