Irish national soccer team players bowed their heads in protest Sunday. They should be hanging their heads in shame.
This is a country known for its love of throwing a few back when the moment strikes. But it’s disconcerting to see that their drink of choice is the Kool-Aid.
Players of Israel and Ireland stand for the anthems before a UEFA Nations League soccer match in Debrecen, Hungary, on Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Zsolt Czegledi)
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Ireland’s players opted not to shake the hands of their Israeli opponents before Sunday’s Nations League match in Hungary, and their goalkeeper, Gavin Banzunu, refused to play against Israel because of his “personal belief that the killing of innocent people is wrong.”
It was one giant virtue signal in the team’s attempt to announce its moral superiority, but upon a closer look, it was the Irishmen who fell short.
Some background.
The Irish soccer team had faced pressure to boycott Sunday’s game against Israel due to the country’s response to the Hamas terror attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 Israelis. The narrative pushed by much of the media is that the counter-attacks have been akin to a “genocide,” which has no basis in reality.
Nevertheless, the Irish soccer team has seemed to deem Israel the villain in this conflict, and took out their resentment on the Israeli players. They wouldn’t even shake their hands??? Pathetic.
Republic of Ireland’s Evan Ferguson looks on as play is halted after protesters threw tennis balls onto the pitch during an international friendly against Qatar at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on May 28, 2026. The protest targeted Ireland’s upcoming soccer fixtures against Israel. (Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)
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Let’s pretend for a second that Israel was, indeed, the “bad guy” in this conflict — something I don’t believe to be true. Does that mean it’s OK to shun the athletes representing the country?
Where else could you apply that logic?
Should opponents of North Korea’s teams refuse to shake their players’ hands because of a brutal dictatorship responsible for an innumerable amount of human rights abuses? Should opponents of Russian teams refuse to shake their players’ hands because of Vladimir Putin’s government invading Ukraine?
What about not shaking the hands of Sudanese players because of a catastrophic war involving atrocities against civilians? Or not shaking hands of Chinese players because of their government’s treatment of the Uyghurs?
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I was on hand in Seattle when Iran took on Egypt in a World Cup group play match. I didn’t see Egyptians deny handshakes with Iranian players due to their government’s extermination of protesters against the Tehran regime. I never saw players at the World Baseball Classic snub the Venezuelans because of Nicolás Maduro’s brutal regime, either.
I could go on and on.
The world is brutal. Conflict is everywhere. But there’s a big difference between protesting a country’s government and treating players from said country as pariahs. The Irish soccer team doesn’t seem to understand that.
Never mind that Israel’s attacks have essentially always been in response to attacks brought upon its country. Innocent people die tragically because Hamas uses them as human shields, embedding its fighters and military infrastructure among civilians in schools, hospitals and residential areas.
The Israeli government regularly gives warnings that these attacks are coming, and provides aid to the Palestinian people. This is lost on much of the media and artists such as Macklemore, who falsely decry an attempt at “genocide.”
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Macklemore performs at a concert at the end of August. (AFP via Getty Images)
But that’s neither here nor there in regard to the Israeli soccer players. They are athletes, not politicians. They don’t dictate what their government leaders do. The Irish soccer team’s players slighting them is a misguided attempt to make themselves look heroic. In fact, they look foolish.
Politics are messy. Sports are supposed to be an escape from them.
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The Irish soccer team players deemed themselves the empathetic group. The Irish soccer team players deemed themselves the empathetic group. In reality, they were simply the latest people to confuse moral posturing with morality.