Welcome to MTalki. Irish Women’s basketball team refused to shake hands with Israel. Because they don’t want to shake hand with Israel due to killing and nation reducing in Gaza.
About the Women’s Statements
The Irish women’s basketball team refused to shake hands with an Israeli opponent on Thursday amid outrage over anti-Semitism allegations as the two countries met in a EuroBasket qualifier.
Minutes before kick-off, Basketball Ireland announced on social media that the players had decided to refrain from their usual pre-match chat, linking this decision to Israeli player Dor Sar’s previous comments. announced that.
In an interview published by the Israel Basketball Association on Tuesday, Sarr spoke about the upcoming game against Ireland. “They are known to be very anti-Semitic, it’s no secret, and maybe that’s why a strong match is expected,” she said. “We talk about it among ourselves. We know they don’t love us and we’re always going to leave everything on the field, especially in this game.”
Basketball Ireland called the comments “inflammatory and completely inaccurate” and said they had reported them to European basketball’s governing body.
“Basketball Ireland announced yesterday that as a direct result of recent statements by Israeli players and coaching staff, including inflammatory and completely inaccurate accusations of anti-Semitism published on the Israeli federation’s official channels, we players have informed FIBA Europe that they will not participate in traditional training sessions. It says, “Agreement for a match with a future opponent.”
He added that he fully supports the players’ decision to refrain from exchanging gifts, shaking hands, and other pleasantries before and after Thursday’s game. Additionally, players lined up on the bench for the national anthem instead of at midfield.
The women’s team has struggled in recent weeks with calls to boycott games. The match was originally scheduled to be held in Israel in November, but was postponed and moved to Riga after Basketball Ireland requested a neutral venue. Several prominent athletes have supported the call, and pressure on the players increased after the Israel Basketball Federation shared photos of training sessions that included visits from IDF soldiers.
Basketball Ireland announced late last month that they had expressed “strong concerns” about their FIBA Europe match against Israel, raising the possibility that they would miss the match. However, the organization has been informed that it could face a fine of up to €180,000 and exclusion from Eurobasket this year and in 2027.
Basketball Ireland boss John Feehan said the penalty would be devastating for the team. “Not only will we be away from international competition for the next five years, but it will probably take another five years to get back to where we are now. So we will actually be losing a generation of players,” he said. He spoke to Irish national broadcaster RTÉ.
However, several players decided not to travel to Riga for Thursday’s match. Israel defeated Ireland 87-57 in the match, which was played behind closed doors for safety reasons from Irish Women’s.
After the loss, Ireland head coach James Weldon praised his players for being “incredibly mature in dealing with a very high-pressure week.” He tried to avoid questions about pregame procedures. “We want to talk about basketball, not about basketball. We did not participate in pregame activities as a direct result of unwarranted and unacceptable comments about our players from the Israeli camp,” the statement said. . “It was very disappointing. We came here to play basketball and we wanted to win, but this time we couldn’t keep up.”