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Irish coach James Weldon talks to his players during the match against Israel.
cnn
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He irish The national women’s basketball team refused to shake hands with the Israeli women’s national team before the first match of the women’s EuroBasket 2025 qualifier in Riga, Latvia, on Thursday.
Basketball Ireland, the governing body for sport in Ireland, said in a statement which told FIBA Europe on Wednesday that the team would not participate in pre-match formalities, including the handshake with Israel before kick-off, as “a direct result of recent comments made by Israeli players and coaching staff, including inflammatory and wholly inaccurate accusations.” of anti-Semitism, published on the official channels of the Israeli federation.”
“This includes exchanging gifts, formal handshakes before or after the game, as our players line up for the national anthem on our bench, rather than on center court. “Basketball Ireland fully supports our players in their decision,” the statement continued.
On Wednesday, Israeli basketball player Dor Sa’ar called the Irish team “quite anti-Semitic” in an interview published on the Israeli Basketball Association website.
“They are known to be quite anti-Semitic and it’s no secret, and maybe that’s why a strong game is expected,” Sa’ar said.
“We have to show that we are better than them and win. We talk about it among ourselves. We know they don’t like us and we will leave everything on the field always and in this game.”
Before the start of the match, Ireland listened to the national anthem next to the team bench while Israel stood near center court. The players did not shake hands. Israel defeated Ireland 87-57.
After the match, Israel coach Sharon Drucker said she had “never seen things like this” in her life.
“I’ve played sports for many years, I’ve never seen things like this in my life,” Drucker said.
“There was no game in which concessions were not made, hands were shaken and congratulations were not made. “They took a step absolutely and today they received their punishment.”
Oksana Dzadan/Sportsfile/Getty Images
Israel defeated Ireland 87-57 on Thursday.
Sa’ar, who made his Israel debut, added: “It’s always fun to represent the country, certainly at a time like this. I’m happy to have won and let’s keep it up. I don’t want to get into the political issue, but it gives momentum and motivation, we shout the anthem and sing with pride, we have to show the whole world that we are Israel and that we will stay here.”
According Basketball IrelandIreland coach James Weldon said his team “showed incredible maturity in how they handled a very high-pressure week”.
“It’s been tough for all of us, but we stood strong and united and all I can say is we didn’t back down today,” Weldon continued.
Weldon said he “preferred” not to talk about what happened before the game, but said the team did not “participate in pre-game activities as a direct result of those unwarranted and unacceptable comments from the Israeli camp about our players.”
“It was very disappointing, we came here for a basketball game, we wanted to win, but this time we didn’t come out with the right result,” Weldon added.
“We had three international debutants in this match, we are building a team, so there are positives to take from this match.”
Basketball Ireland faced calls to boycott the game against Israel, but saying FIBA Europe would fine them up to $86,000 “if they did not comply with the match against Israel, with an additional fine of $107,000 if the second leg was not played.”
Basketball Ireland would also have been eliminated from the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers and the upcoming qualifying campaign, with the governing body reportedly calling it an “effective five-year ban.”
CNN has contacted FIBA and the Israel Basketball Association for comment.