Adam Idah suffers racist abuse from Israel fans

Adam Idah was subjected to racist abuse from Israel fans at last night’s Nations League tie in Hungary.

The match was supposed to be played behind closed doors but around 200 Israel fans were inside the stadium in Debrecen. It seems that around 8 Irish fans attended the match.

Pre-match there were none of the usual formalities. The Ireland players refused to shake hands. When the Israel anthem was played the Irish players lowered their heads in recognition of over 70,000 Palestinians murdered by their opponents.

National Service is compulsory in Israel, being with the hated Israeli Defence Force is seen as a badge of honour among many young Israeli’s.

The complete lack of leadership from the FAI marred the build up to the match. It started in February when the Nations League draw was made.

Icelandic manager Heimir Hallgrímsson has had to face the media, dealing with questions which would be better directed at a politician.

On the pitch there was a real focus about the way Ireland went about their business.

The players were well aware of the criticism, often more than criticism that was being directed at them for being involved in sport-swashing.

If Asia or Africa won’t accept Israel there is no sound reason for UEFA to accept that state while excluding Russia from competitions.

ADAM IDAH SCORES AGAINST THE INVITED GUEST NATION OF UEFA

Troy Parrot put Ireland 1-0 in front in the 13th minute, three minutes later Idah scored his seventh international goal.

The racist abuse from the 200 approved flag waving Israeli fans had already started, it was cranked up after Idah scored.

UEFA of course have a token Say No To Racism campaign.

The fans inside the stadium were all identified before gaining entry. It wouldn’t have taken much work to identify those involved.

There was no warning over the stadium Public Address. None of the Israel players pleaded with their fans to stop the racist abuse.

Jack Moyland scored Ireland’s third goal in the 25th minutes as an answer to the racists was delivered on the pitch.

The Israel fans continued with their abuse throughout the match, clearly they were there to make statements rather than back their players on the park.

Which is exactly why decent people across Europe want Israel removed from UEFA.

On Thursday Israel host Kosovo in Debrecen ‘behind closed doors’. Fan everywhere will be watching to see if UEFA permit racist Israeli fans to attend another fixture.

Ireland host Austria in Dublin on Thursday before their ‘home’ match against Israel in Serbia.