Kelleher went through the usual pre-match formalities with the referee and one of the assistants, but there was no handshake with Peretz. Ireland captain Caoimhin Kelleher refused to shake hands with Israel skipper Dor Peretz before their UEFA Nations League clash on Sunday, continuing the tension that had surrounded both games between the two teams.
Dara O’Shea had refused to shake hands with Israel captain Manor Solomon before Ireland’s 3-0 win in Debrecen, Hungary, last week, so there was already some attention on whether the same thing would happen again. More than 160 Irish sportspeople signed an open letter asking the Football Association of Ireland to reconsider the matches, while protests were also held before the squad left for the first game. Kelleher therefore captained the side, but Ireland’s approach to the pre-match handshake remained unchanged.
It was also a repeat of what had happened in the first game. O’Shea was not involved in Sunday’s match as he had been excused to be with his wife for the birth of their child. The game was played behind closed doors in Backa Topola, Serbia. It had originally been scheduled as an Ireland home fixture in Dublin, but was moved to a neutral venue after growing calls in Ireland for the national team to boycott the match against Israel. The build-up to both fixtures had been dominated by the question of whether Ireland should play at all.
The game eventually finished 1-1, although the refusal to shake hands had already become one of the main talking points.
“I felt that pressure growing day by day and it’s getting almost to a breaking limit now,” Hallgrimsson said during the pre-match press conference, according to the full transcript published by Irish broadcaster RTÉ. Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu eventually decided not to take part in either match. The rest of the squad voted to go ahead with the fixtures, while the FAI maintained that pulling out could expose Ireland to sanctions from UEFA . A disagreement also broke out as the teams left the field at half-time, and the referee had to step in.
Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson spoke about the effect it was having on his players before the Debrecen fixture.
