Basketball Ireland board approve Irish women's team to play Israel
Under Fiba regulations, Ireland risked an €80,000 fine for refusing to play the first scheduled fixture against Israel, and a further €100,000 penalty –along with a potential international ban – for missing a second game.
'After extensive deliberation with various stakeholders, the Board of Basketball Ireland has decided that Ireland will compete in the upcoming FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2027 Qualifiers," a Basketball Ireland statement read.
'Mindful of the dreadful humanitarian situation in Gaza, the Board seriously considered all options available, including a withdrawal from the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2027 Qualifiers.
'Ultimately it is not individual federations, such as Basketball Ireland, who determine who is permitted to enter and play international tournaments, it is the responsibility of FIBA Europe and other international sporting bodies.
"Whilst we fully acknowledge the tragic events of October 7th, 2023, Basketball Ireland is deeply concerned with the ongoing suffering being faced by the people of Gaza and has raised this with FIBA Europe. We have also informed FIBA Europe that we will only face Israel in a neutral venue.'
The Irish Independent contacted a number of international players for their reaction to the decision, but did not receive a response.
Last year, several of James Weldon's leading players didn't play against Israel over their concerns about the war when they were drawn against them in a previous European qualifying campaign.
This time, Ireland's women are scheduled to play Israel away on November 18 before the home leg on St Patrick's Day next year.
These fixture details are to be confirmed but, previously, Ireland played Israel both times in Riga during last year's qualifiers.
This time, the November 18 game takes place three days before Fiba Europe's next board meeting, where directors will discuss whether to ban Israel from international competition.
This follows on from a letter sent by board member Bernard O'Byrne to Fiba Europe president Jorge Garbajosa which called for the country's immediate suspension.
"They agreed to put it on the agenda, but really I would have thought this more urgent than that," O'Byrne said.
"The other board members are considering that situation as well and some of them may be contacting the president as well. I'll leave that to them."
O'Byrne, who is a former CEO of Basketball Ireland, is unsure how much support his letter may get at the next European board meeting in Serbia.
"It's very difficult to calculate. There's 25 members. I know for instance the Nordic countries, which form a kind of unofficial sub group, I would think that they would be supportive. What the total support is I can't really guess."
In today's Basketball Ireland statement, CEO John Feehan added: 'The Board of Basketball Ireland have given lengthy consideration over our participation in the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2027 Qualifiers.
"Facing Israel in these circumstances is not a scenario we would wish, but there has been no change in Israel's status within sport, made by FIBA Europe, the IOC or any other major sporting body. FIBA Europe have been quite clear to us that sanctions would be imposed on Basketball Ireland, should we elect not to play, which would be hugely damaging to the sport here.
'Naturally there is major concern about the suffering being inflicted on the people of Gaza, which is frankly unacceptable. We would implore all parties in the current conflict to return to peace and for humanitarian aid to be fully restored to Gaza.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Mason Melia double inspires St Patrick's Athletic to win as Sligo Rovers fury over red card
Mason Melia struck twice as St Patrick's Athletic cruised past ten-man Sligo Rovers, who were left fuming at Patrick McClean's first-half red card in Inchicore SPURRED ON Mason Melia double inspires St Patrick's Athletic to win as Sligo Rovers fury over red card Mason Melia scored a striker's brace inside five minutes as St Pat's put their European disappointment firmly behind them. While the 17-year-old Tottenham Hotspur-bound striker was central to most of the game's highlights. Advertisement 2 Mason Melia bagged a brace for the Saints in the win over Sligo on Sunday 2 Patrick McClean was shown a controversial red card in the defeat Sligo were rightly livid at the sending off of Patrick McClean just before half-time which ruined what had been a competitive game. All but out of Europe ahead of the second leg following their 4-1 home defeat to Turkish giants Besiktas last Thursday, St Pat's got their quest for European qualification next year back on track here. Stephen Kenny's side remain sixth in the table but there are now just five points separating them from second-placed Bohemians. Back-to-back defeats for Sligo sees them remain in trouble second bottom of the table. Advertisement The chief talking point of a pretty uninspiring first half arrived on 42 minutes when Sligo were astonished in being reduced to 10 men. Centre-back McClean, who was having a very solid game, certainly tripped Melia as the teenager tried to skip by him. But despite there being obvious cover there from Sebastian Quirk, referee Damien MacGraith incensed Sligo by brandishing a straight red card to McClean for a last-man challenge in what looked an horrendous decision. A call that flabbergasted Sligo manager John Russell. Advertisement He said: 'I think everyone in the ground, bar the man in the middle, could see it was never a red card. There was a covering defender. "That changes the game, there is no doubt about it. Moment Leicester fans applaud protesting Sheffield Wednesday supporters amid crisis club's financial woes "It ruined it. It's very frustrating, we've come up here to try and get a result. "We are fighting for our lives and it has changed the game, and we have ended up coming down the road with a 3-0 defeat." Advertisement Russell did speak to MacGraith afterwards. He said: 'I did, just briefly, at the very end of the game and he said, 'I'll have to have a look back, but for me it was a red'.' Having successfully done so in regard to Sam Sargeant recently, Sligo will appeal the decision. Russell said: 'Yes, we have to. Thankfully we did get one overturned last week. Advertisement "But it's hard as a manager because you don't want to be complaining all the time about decisions. "You want the game to be played in the right manner, and we want to play the right way and Pat's want to play the right way. "But the game was spoiled by the decision. "You are coming up here this time last year we conceded a penalty in the 97th minute, and it was never a penalty and we ended up losing the game 4-3. Advertisement "It was a year to this day or something. But you are coming up today thinking, hopefully it will turn for us and we might get decisions, and then this happens. It's hugely frustrating.' Sargeant would rescue Sligo from Brandon Kavanagh's resultant free kick with a stunning save to tip the effort onto the crossbar. But the night got worse for Sligo within four minutes of the restart when St Pat's took the lead. Sargeant was guilty of racing too far off his line from a Chris Forrester ball over the top. Advertisement The keeper never got there ahead of Jake Mulraney who walked the ball into the net as Sergeant collided with his captain Will Fitzgerald for a really soft goal. Sligo were then at sixes-and-sevens as they somehow survived conceding a second goal on the double. First Sargeant saved well from Melia who had nicked the ball a little too easily off Sean Stewart. Simon Power looked set to score from the rebound but for a terrific goal-line clearance by Ollie Denham. Advertisement But there was no such reprieve a minute later when St Pat's did extend their lead from another soft goal. Kavanagh's floated corner was met by the totally unmarked Melia who found the bottom corner with a downward header. Murlaney shot wide when he should have found the net before Melia scored a brilliant solo goal. Sligo lost the ball cheaply with Kavanagh threading it through for Melia. Advertisement Accelerating past Denham, the teen sensation nonchalantly rolled the ball with his studded beyond Sargeant before casually side-footing to the net for his ninth league goal of the season. ST PAT'S 3 - 0 SLIGO ROVERS SUN STAR MAN: Mason Melia (St Pat's). St Patrick's Athletic: Anang 7; Sjoberg 7, Redmond 7, Turner 7, McClelland 7; Lennon 6 (Baggley, h-t, 6), Forrester 7 (Robinson, 79); Mulraney 7 (Leavy, 79, 6), Kavanagh 7, Power 7 (Garrick, 71, 6); Melia 9 (Carty, 71, 6). Sligo Rovers: Sargeant 6; Quirk 6, Denham 6, McClean 6, Stewart 6; Harkin 6 (Wolfe, 65, 6), McManus 6; Fitzgerald 6 Elding 6 (Manning, 80, 6), O'Kane 6; Waweru 6 (Kavanagh, h-t, 6). Advertisement Referee: Damien MacGraith (Mayo) 4. Attendance: 3,190.
Irish Independent
3 hours ago
- Irish Independent
‘Everyone bar the man in the middle could see it was never a red card' – Sligo boss fumes as Mason Melia fires double
While the 17-year-old Tottenham Hotspur-bound striker was central to most of the game's highlights, Sligo were rightly livid at the sending off of Patrick McClean just before half-time which ruined what had been a competitive game. All but out of Europe ahead of the second leg following their 4-1 home defeat to Turkish giants Besiktas, St Pat's got their quest for European qualification next year back on track here. Stephen Kenny's side remain sixth in the table but there are now just five points separating them from second-placed Bohemians. Back-to-back defeats for Sligo sees them remain in trouble, second bottom of the table. The chief talking point of a pretty uninspiring first half arrived on 42 minutes when Sligo were left fuming after being reduced to 10 men. Centre-back McClean, who was having a very solid game, certainly tripped Melia as the teenager tried to skip by him. But despite there being obvious cover there from Sebastian Quirk, referee Damien MacGraith incensed Sligo by brandishing a straight red card to McClean for what he deemed a last-man challenge. It was a call that left Sligo manager John Russell flabbergasted. 'I think everyone in the ground, bar the man in the middle, could see it was never a red card. There was a covering defender,' he said. 'That changes the game, there is no doubt about it. It ruined it. It's very frustrating, we've come up here to try and get a result. 'We are fighting for our lives and it has changed the game, and we have ended up coming down the road with a 3-0 defeat.' Having successfully done so in regard to Sam Sargeant recently, Sligo will appeal the decision. Russell said: 'Yes, we have to. Thankfully we did get one overturned last week. But it's hard as a manager because you don't want to be complaining all the time about decisions. 'You want the game to be played in the right manner, and we want to play the right way and Pat's want to play the right way. But the game was spoiled by the decision.' Sam Sargeant rescued Sligo from Jake Mulraney's resultant free-kick with a stunning save, tipping the effort onto the crossbar. But a mistake by the goalkeeper would gift St Pat's the lead four minutes after the restart. Sargeant misjudged Chris Forrester's ball over the top allowing Mulraney to nip in to walk the ball to the net as the keeper collided with his captain Will Fitzgerald. Sligo were then at sixes-and-sevens as they somehow survived conceding a second goal on the double on 55. First Sargeant saved well from Melia who had nicked the ball a little too easily off Seán Stewart. Simon Power looked set to score from the rebound but for a terrific goal-line clearance by Ollie Denham. But there was no such reprieve a minute later when St Pat's did extend their lead with another soft goal. Brandon Kavanagh's floated corner was met by the totally unmarked Melia who found the bottom corner with a downward header. Melia then showed his brilliance with a real poacher's goal on the hour. Sligo lost the ball cheaply with Kavanagh threading it through with the young striker accelerating past Denham, before nonchalantly rolling the ball with his studd by Sargeant before side-footing to the net for his ninth league goal of the season. St Patrick's Athletic: Anang; Sjoberg, Redmond, Turner, McClelland; Lennon (Baggley, ht), Forrester (Robinson, 79); Mulraney (Leavy, 79), Kavanagh, Power (Garrick, 71); Melia (Carty, 71). Sligo Rovers: Sargeant; Quirk, Denham, McClean, Stewart; Harkin (Wolfe, 65), McManus; Fitzgerald, Elding (Manning, 80), O'Kane; Waweru (Kavanagh, ht).
RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Mason Melia brace sees St Pat's overcome 10-man Sligo Rovers
Mason Melia scored a striker's brace inside five minutes as St Patrick's Athletic put their midweek European disappointment firmly behind them. While the 17-year-old Tottenham Hotspur-bound striker was central to most of the game's highlights, Sligo were rightly livid at the sending off of Patrick McClean just before half-time which ruined what had been a competitive game. All but out of Europe ahead of the second leg following their 4-1 home defeat to Turkish giants Besiktas, St Pat's got their quest for European qualification next year back on track here. Stephen Denny's side remain sixth in the table but there are now just five points separating them from second-placed Bohemians. Back-to-back defeats for Sligo sees them remain in trouble second bottom of the table. The chief talking point of a pretty uninspiring first half arrived on 42 minutes when Sligo were astonished in being reduced to 10 men. Centre-back McClean, who was having a very solid game, certainly tripped Melia as the teenager tried to skip by him. But despite there being obvious cover there from Sebastian Quirk, referee Damien MacGraith incensed Sligo by brandishing a straight red card to McClean for a last-man challenge in what looked an horrendous decision. Sam Sargeant rescued Sligo from Jake Mulraney's resultant free kick with a stunning save to tip the effort onto the crossbar. But a mistake by the goalkeeper would gift St Pat's the lead four minutes after the restart. Sargeant misjudged Chris Forrester's ball over the top allowing Mulraney to nip in to walk the ball to the net as the keeper collided with his captain Will Fitzgerald. Sligo were then at sixes-and-sevens as they somehow survived conceding a second goal on the double on 55. First Sargeant saved well from Melia who had nicked the ball a little too easily off Sean Stewart. Simon Power looked set to score from the rebound but for a terrific goal-line clearance by Ollie Denham. But there was no such reprieve a minute later when St Pat's did extend their lead with another soft goal. Brandon Kavanagh's floated corner was met by the totally unmarked Melia who found the bottom corner with a downward header. Melia then showed his brilliance with a real poacher's goal on the hour. Sligo lost the ball cheaply with Kavanagh threading it through for Melia. Accelerating past Denham, Melia nonchalantly rolled the ball with his studd by Sargeant before casually side-footing to the net for his ninth league goal of the season. St Patrick's Athletic: Joseph Anang; Axel Sjoberg, Joe Redmond, Luke Turner, Jay McClelland; Jamie Lennon (Barry Baggley h-t), Chris Forrester (Darren Robinson 79); Jake Mulraney (Kian Leavy 79), Brandon Kavanagh, Simon Power (Jordan Garrick 71); Mason Melia (Conor Carty 71). Sligo Rovers: Sam Sargeant; Sebastian Quirk, Ollie Denham, Paddy McClean, Sean Stewart; Ciaron Harkin (Matt Wolfe 65), James McManus; Will Fitzgerald; Owen Elding (Ronan Manning 80), Ryan O'Kane; Wilson Waweru (Cian Kavanagh h-t).
