Ireland players refused to shake hands with their Israeli opponents after one opponent accused them of anti-Semitism < p>Anti-Semitism row engulfing women's Ireland's basketball team grew stronger on Thursday after they refused to shake hands with the Israeli team during a European Championship qualifier.
The Irish lost a grudge match 87-57 on Thursday, but the result was completely overshadowed by their boycott traditional handshakes before and after the match.
The snub followed an «inflammatory and completely inaccurate» accusation by Israeli debutant Dor Saar that Ireland players were «very anti-Semitic» during an interview published two days before the first of two qualifiers between the countries.
Her comments, published Tuesday on the Israel Basketball Federation's website, follow a statement last month from Basketball Ireland, which said it had «expressed serious concerns about these matches with Israel, including the possibility of not playing the games.» in light in response to the Hamas attacks on October 7.
The Telegraph reported that some Irish players had decided not to travel to Thursday's qualifying match, which was postponed from the original date in November due to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip before. moving from Israel to Riga, Latvia.
In a statement issued shortly before kick-off, Basketball Ireland said: “Basketball Ireland informed Fiba Europe yesterday that this is a direct result of recent comments made by Israeli players and coaching staff, including inflammatory and completely inaccurate allegations of anti-Semitism, published on the Basketball Ireland website . The official channels of the Israeli federation are that our players will not participate in the traditional pre-match activities with our future opponents. This includes the exchange of gifts, formal handshakes before or after the game, while our players will line up for the Irish anthem at our bench rather than on center court. Basketball Ireland fully supports our players in their decision.»
Ireland lined up next to their bench rather than opposite their opponent , Israel. Photo: FIBA
The row over anti-Semitism comes amid intense pressure from pro-Palestinian activists in Ireland to call for the national team to boycott their matches against Israel.
Saar said of the Irish side: “It is known that they quite anti-Semitic, and this is no secret, and perhaps that is why a strong game is expected.
“We have to show that we are better than them and win. We talk about this among ourselves. We know they don't like us and we will always leave everything on the field, especially in this game.»
Her comments prompted Basketball Ireland to make a formal complaint to the competition. organizers FIBA Europe.
The match was played behind closed doors for security reasons.
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