Scheduled press conference and training session delayed

Irish FA admits ‘players shared different views’

The Republic of Ireland’s Nations League fixtures with Israel will go ahead after players voted on Saturday for the matches to be played.

The scheduled press conference before Sunday’s first game – which is being played in Debrecen in Hungary – was delayed until Saturday afternoon, raising doubts as to whether the match would be cancelled.

However, the Football Association of Ireland confirmed it will be played. “The Association made this decision following consultation with the Republic of Ireland players who shared different views and a majority expressed that the fixtures should be played. The Association respects the views of all players involved and appreciates the level of sensitivity concerning these fixtures.”

A group of players were believed to have held a meeting in the team hotel after missing the initial press conference, which was scheduled for 10.15am local time, and scheduled training at the Nagyerdei Stadium 45 minutes later.

Uefa officials were unsure of the reason behind the delay, although players had announced they would meet on Friday to discuss the situation. There were reports a player statement would be released before the originally scheduled press conference and speculation on Saturday morning that a player had refused to play in the match. Teams who do not meet obligations can be subject to warnings or fines from Uefa.

After Thursday’s 1-0 defeat to Kosovo in Pristina that began the Republic’s Nations League campaign, the midfielder Jason Knight said: “It’s difficult. I don’t think the game should be going ahead, but it is going ahead. We’ll have a deeper talk about it and what that means, we’ll get our thoughts as a group and go from there.

“None of us have gone through this scenario before, but I’d like to think I’m experienced, thick-skinned and I can get through most things and that is what I will try to do.

“I’ll try to focus on the football as much as I can. I’ll give my view and my thoughts on it [the Israel games] when I see fit, but I’ll be trying to focus on the football as much as possible.”