Jason Knight becomes first Ireland player to say Israel fixture should not go ahead

Jason Knight has become the first Republic of Ireland player to publicly state that Sunday’s Nations League fixture against Israel should not be played, speaking out after Ireland’s 1-0 defeat to Kosovo in Pristina.

The Derby County midfielder voiced his opposition ahead of a planned squad discussion on Friday, called by captain Dara O’Shea, over the controversial match to be held on neutral territory in Debrecen, Hungary. The fixture has drawn intense scrutiny following the United Nations independent international commission’s finding that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, with protest group Stop The Game calling for a boycott.

“I don’t think the game should be going ahead but it is going ahead,” Knight said. “We’ll have a deeper talk about it and what that means, we’ll get our thoughts as a group and go from there.”

Knight acknowledged the weight of the situation while stressing the squad had not faced anything like it before. “We had chats about it with the players, and more senior players on what the step will be. Now we’re here, we can have a really in-depth talk of what that means and what the consequences are.”

UEFA has permitted Israel to continue competing despite the UN findings. The Debrecen fixture is the second time Ireland have been required to play their ‘home’ match against Israel on neutral ground, with a further meeting scheduled behind closed doors in the small Serbian town of Backa Topola on 4 October.

Knight said he had been focused on club football in the Championship but had anticipated the debate. “I knew this was coming so I had a think about it,” he said. “I’ll give my view and my thoughts when I see fit, but I’ll be trying to focus on the football as much as possible.”

Manager Heimir Hallgrimsson and captain O’Shea had both addressed the situation publicly before Knight’s more direct intervention, but neither had gone as far as saying the match should be called off.