Republic of Ireland confirm Israel Nations League match in Debrecen will go ahead

The Republic of Ireland confirmed on Sunday that their UEFA Nations League B3 fixture against Israel in Debrecen, Hungary will go ahead after a players' vote. The announcement ended a period of uncertainty that began on Saturday morning.

Doubts emerged when a pre-match news conference featuring manager Heimir Hallgrimsson and a player, scheduled for 09:15 BST, was postponed 15 minutes before it was due to start. Reporters were told that the press conference would instead take place after the squad's 10:00 BST training session. That training did not happen at the scheduled time, with the team remaining in their hotel and reporters relocating there while awaiting a statement.

Players were locked in a meeting inside the hotel as events unfolded. There were unconfirmed reports that several players, including goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, had expressed a wish to withdraw from the fixture. Those reports led to questions over whether the match would proceed.

Around 13:00 BST players began to filter out of the meeting room. It was then confirmed the postponed news conference would take place back at the Nagyerdei Stadion at 14:30, with training to follow. The move back to the stadium restored the planned pre-match schedule.

More than five hours after the original 09:15 BST press conference was due to begin, Football Association of Ireland (FAI) CEO David Courell, flanked by Hallgrimsson and the FAI Director of Football, confirmed a players' vote passed by a significant majority to play the game. Courell made the announcement after the delayed internal meeting.

The Nations League B3 match against Israel in Debrecen will be played as scheduled on Sunday, with the team due to hold a training session following the rescheduled news conference.