Ireland’s Women’s Basketball Team Refused To Shake Hands With Israel’s Team Before Their Game
The Irish players stood on the sidelines during the national anthem ahead of the match, rather than at the center of the court as is customary.
The Ireland women’s basketball team refused to shake hands with Israel’s team before their EuroBasket 2025 qualifier match after an Israeli player accused them of anti-Semitism.
Israeli player Dor Saar had said the Irish team was anti-Semitic in an interview with the Israeli Basketball Association.
“It’s known that they are quite antisemitic, and it’s no secret; maybe that’s why a strong game is expected,” Saar said in the interview, according to Anadolu Agency.
Ahead of the game, Basketball Ireland announced that Saar’s comments were “inflammatory and wholly inaccurate”.
It also added players would not take part in pre-match arrangements including “exchanging gifts, formal handshakes before or after the game.”
Statement ahead of today’s FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Qualifier. pic.twitter.com/iz6s88febf
— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) February 8, 2024
True to their word, the Irish players stood on the sidelines during the national anthem ahead of the match, rather than at the center of the court as is customary, and did not shake hands with the Israeli team.
A clip of the moment has gone viral on social media.
Since Israel declared war on Hamas on Oct. 7, Basketball Ireland had “raised strong concerns” with the International Basketball Federation(FIBA) about games between the countries.
The team had asked that they not play the games against Israel, but FIBA refused their request and warned that they risked a €80,000(about US$85,770) fine if they failed to play in the qualifier match.
It also warned that the Irish team would be removed from the EuroBasket 2025 and banned from competing for EuroBasket 2027.
Basketball Ireland’s CEO said in an interview with RTE News that it could not risk paying the fines as it is not a very rich organization.
“Not only would we be out of international competition for the next five years but it would probably take us another five years to get back to where we are now, so in real terms we’d lose a generation of players,” Feehand said.
The match on Thursday was originally scheduled to take place in Israel last November, but was later moved to Riga, Latvia, after Basketball Ireland requested for it to be moved to a more neutral venue.
Several Irish players did not attend the match.
Israel won the match 87-57.
