The Irish basketball team did not shake hands with Israeli team players before the 2025 European Championship qualifying match.
The match took place on Thursday in Riga and ended with a score of 87:55 in favor of the Israelis.
Israeli national team player Dor Saar accused the Irish team of anti-Semitism before the match and stressed that because of this she expected a “tense match”.
“We have to show that we are better than them and win.” We talk about it among ourselves, we know they don’t like us, so we’re going to leave everything on the pitch as always. And especially in this game,” she noted.
Basketball Ireland has warned that “due to comments made by Israeli players and coaching staff, including completely false allegations of anti-Semitism, players will not participate in traditional pre-match activities”, including handles handshakes and gift exchanges.
The executive director of the Irish FA, John Feehan, in response to calls in the media to boycott the match, said that if the match did not take place the organization would face a fine of 80,000 euros, and the national team faces suspension.
Israeli basketball teams play games outside the country due to the conflict in the Middle East.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict intensified on October 7, 2023. The number of people killed in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli strikes exceeded 27,500 people and the number of injured rose to 67,000, according to the latest data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health office in the enclave. In Israel, according to the latest government data, around 1.2 thousand people have died.
Source : MatchTV
My name is Adam Jackson and I am an author. I have been writing about Basketball games for over a decade now and am excited to share my knowledge with you all. Additionally, I am also interested in other sports and enjoy discussing them with others. Contact me if you want to discuss any Basketball-related topics!
