Ireland vs Israel - To play or not to play, that is the question Read OP for Mod Warning

My name is Patrick Maguire, so when the virtue signalling idiot is asked why he didnt save the world from Israel he can name me too.

1. Celtic players will be away on international duty. The Scottish FA will also have to sanction the game in Celtic Park. Ain't gonna happen. They won't piss UEFA off.

2. FAI have sold ST for 2026. I am a STH and i expect to see an internatonal in the nations league. Refund please FAI, and I wont be alone.

3. TV companies have paid millions for TV rights to the nations league. They won't shell out for two games v Celtics U19s who have the tea lady in goal and the janitor in midfield

4. FAI are heavily reliant on UEFA, like most FA are.

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1324180416403874&id=offtheball

5. If the FAI boycott two games to play Celtic the will lose millions more on top of the financial and most likely sporting sanctions to follow.

So in closing, your idea is the biggest load of virtue signalling, idiotic, poorly thought out bollox I've read on here. Stick to the fairytales lad, they are more realistic.

...

Russia is not an ally of the USA.

Israel is a key ally of the USA and a big tech sector which has massive links to the USA. And there is also huge banking/financial institution links between USA and ISRAEL.

Look at the world cup draw recently. FIFA president fawning over DJT and giving him a "peace medal" after he didnt get the Nobel Peace Prize.

The USA are co-host of the upcoming world cup.

The dunnes strikes are not really comparable as individuals made their own choices about a boycott which was on them to own, the consequences of which were on them and them alone, they weren't making decisions that negatively impacted on 100s of other people.

The FAI have debt of €40m, employs approx 250 people and has obligations to each and every one of those employees. They are heavily reliant on UEFA

The FAI as a member of UEFA generate nearly all of the €35-40m from match related activity because of UEFA. Ticket sales, sponsorship and TV money the main sources.

The topic is Ireland V Israel football matches and whether they should go ahead.

Please stop misrepresenting what i say to suit your own agenda. Or making statements/accusations about what I believe. You don't know me and what my beliefs are , political or otherwise.

You dont even know what the nations league is judging by your posts over the weekend, so presumably you dont know why it came about. But I will fill you in.

There was an abundance of international friendlies but dwindling crowds, poor TV viewership (which caused a drop in TV rights) so a new set up was created with jeopardy.

Promotion and relegation. This feeds into seeding for euro and World Cup draws

This has seen a reduction in meaningless friendlies which has seen atrendances increase, TV audience increase leading to higher revenues for football associations. UEFA sold the TV rights to the nations league on 4 year blocks. We are halfway through the current block.

The FAI are in dire financial straits. But in 2028 Ireland hosts games in the Euros which is worth reputedly €25m to the FAI alone. So the FAI is threading water until then. The nations league income in autumn/winter 2026 is absolutely vital to keeping the FAI afloat. The EURO 2028 income will give the FAI an opportunity to get itself out of the financial mess it is fighting.

For all the talk about the government bailing them out if they boycott the israel games, why have the government not thrown a pile of cash at them to get them debt free?

It doesn't matter whether i care or not about the FAI finances. It really doesn't. But I live in the real world. I understand what it's like to be made redundant, the months of not knowing, the unknown etx.

But to those people who are employed by the FAI and whose livelihood is 100% reliant on the income the FAI derives from playing matches in front of big crowds in the Aviva as well as the TV rights money the FAI gets from UEFA, it very much matters to them. Food on the table, mortgage or rent, utility bills, kids education.

If you dont want to accept that, thats fine. But i would be if the opinion that if your livelihood was at stake, your opinion would be very different. And if your wages stopped arriving into your back account, you wouldnt be all that happy about it.