Racism Allegation and Referee Response Overshadow Ireland-Israel Win

Ireland scored three times inside 25 minutes to beat Israel 3-0 in Debrecen on Sunday night. Somehow, that wasn't the part of the evening that should concern UEFA most.

Apparent monkey chants were reported when Adam Idah was involved close to the small Israeli supporters’ section, with Jayson Molumby quickly alerting the match officials. David Sneyd, reporting from inside the Nagyerdei Stadion for The42, wrote that similar sounds appeared to be heard again in the second half after James Abankwah shot wide.

There has been no UEFA finding that racist abuse took place. Referee Harm Osmers and fourth official Florian Exner said they didn't hear it. But Molumby clearly heard something he thought needed their attention. He pointed towards his ears and told the officials to “listen”.

Nothing happened.

The game continued and UEFA's three-step racism protocol wasn't activated. The42 subsequently reported that the UEFA delegate told the FAI the protocol couldn't be applied because Molumby hadn't explicitly reported “racism” to the referee.

So, apparently, “listen” wasn't enough.

UEFA's procedure gives referees a way of dealing with racist behaviour during matches. A game can initially be stopped for an announcement, then suspended if the behaviour continues and eventually abandoned.

Nobody expects a referee to punish supporters for something he hasn't heard. But an Irish player had approached him, pointed towards a particular part of the stadium and asked him to listen because he believed something was happening. It is hard to accept that the conversation afterwards has become whether Molumby used the correct word.

Especially in this stadium.

Around 200 people were watching in a ground that holds more than 20,000. Ireland supporters hadn't been given an official ticket allocation because of security concerns, although a small number still attended. Israel had a limited home support.

This wasn't Lansdowne Road on a packed international night with noise coming from every corner. You could probably have introduced most of the crowd to each other.

If racist abuse is established, it will be difficult to explain how it could come from such a small support, be noticed by an opposition player and still pass through the night without the officials intervening.

The timing doesn't exactly help the Israel Football Association either.

After Gavin Bazunu withdrew from the Irish squad on moral grounds and the remaining players voted to play, Israel FA communications chief Shlomi Barzel declared that “football has won”.

The association had already attacked Heimir Hallgrímsson on social media after the Ireland manager spoke about genocide. Its post accused him of “stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy”. Barzel later withdrew the word “stupidity”.

The other two made the final cut.

“Football has won.”

By Sunday night, that line was ageing fairly badly.

Hallgrímsson had said Ireland were “not playing with genocide, we're playing against genocide”. An independent UN Commission of Inquiry concluded in September 2025 that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, a finding Israel rejects. South Africa's separate case under the Genocide Convention remains before the International Court of Justice, which has ordered provisional measures but hasn't delivered a final judgment on whether genocide occurred.

“We're not playing with genocide, we're playing against genocide.”

For me, the idea that everyone could separate the football from everything happening around it was never particularly convincing.

Bazunu withdrew because he believed playing would be wrong. Other Irish players had their own doubts. Hallgrímsson spoke about Gaza. The Israel FA went after him for it. Irish supporters couldn't get tickets through an official allocation because of security concerns. The players bowed their heads during the Israeli anthem and didn't take part in the usual pre-match handshakes.

Then the match started and an Irish player believed his teammate was being racially abused.

There isn't much separation there.

Ireland at least made the actual football straightforward. Troy Parrott, Idah and Jack Moylan scored inside the opening 25 minutes and the game was effectively finished before Israel had settled into it. Three Irish goals away from home would normally give us enough to talk about for the rest of the international window.

Not this week.

Hallgrímsson later described the previous two days as the toughest of his coaching career. His voice broke as he discussed what the squad had been through and the reception they might receive when they returned home.

“Yesterday I didn't think the game would go ahead.”

The Irish Examiner reported that the players voted 15-8 to fulfil the fixture, although the FAI has officially confirmed only that a majority wanted to play. Bazunu made his own decision and left the camp.

FAI president Paul Cooke was satisfied with how the association had dealt with it.

“I think we've handled the week quite well.”

Cooke also felt the case for playing hadn't been properly represented in much of the coverage. One of the FAI's major concerns was what UEFA might do if Ireland refused.

The immediate consequences were clear enough: forfeited matches and 3-0 defeats. Beyond that, much more serious possibilities had been discussed, including potential consequences for Ireland's position as a Euro 2028 co-host.

After the match, Cooke described those additional sanctions as “undetermined”. UEFA, he acknowledged, hadn't actually given the FAI a specific list.

“UEFA never communicates anything specifically.”

The FAI couldn't gamble Irish football's future on the hope that UEFA would stop at two forfeits. There was a genuine risk to consider. But there is a difference between knowing the consequences of a decision and being warned that there might be more consequences somewhere down the road.

Ireland's players were being asked to weigh their own moral objections against potentially enormous repercussions for Irish football without knowing exactly what some of those repercussions were.

Some reportedly voted not to play. The majority voted to go ahead. Bazunu decided he couldn't.

So Ireland went to Debrecen.

They walked into a mostly empty stadium after one of the strangest build-ups an Irish international has had, bowed their heads during the Israeli anthem, skipped the handshakes and then scored three goals before most games have properly warmed up.

And still, none of that is the image from the night that sticks with me.

It's Molumby pointing towards his ear.

Because after everything that was done to make sure this game went ahead, that moment is incredibly difficult to accept.

Players wrestled with whether they should play at all. Bazunu walked away on moral grounds. The squad held a vote. The FAI worried about forfeits and sanctions it admits UEFA never fully specified. Ireland supporters were given no official allocation. The fixture was moved to Hungary and played in front of around 200 people.

Football found a way around every one of those problems because the match had to be played.

Then an Irish player believed he heard racist abuse directed towards his teammate, pointed towards the tiny section of supporters it appeared to be coming from and asked the officials to listen.

Nothing.

No stoppage. No racism protocol. No intervention.

And afterwards, Ireland were reportedly told Molumby hadn't explicitly used the word “racism”.

I'm sorry, but that isn't good enough.

Nobody is asking a referee to punish supporters for something he didn't hear. But if UEFA's anti-racism procedures can't properly respond when a player is standing on the pitch, pointing towards the crowd and desperately trying to alert the officials to what he believes is happening, what exactly are they there for?

The Israel FA had spent the build-up declaring that “football has won”.

Ireland won 3-0. UEFA got its fixture. The FAI avoided the prospect of further sanctions. Everyone got the game they were so determined to play.

But Adam Idah was allegedly subjected to monkey chants, his teammate tried to do something about it, and the game carried on as if nothing had happened.

If that's football winning, I'm not sure what losing is supposed to look like.