Ireland captain Caoimhin Kelleher refused to shake hands with Israel skipper Dor Peretz before their UEFA Nations League clash on Sunday, continuing the tension that had surrounded both games between the two teams. Kelleher went through the usual pre-match formalities with the referee and one of the assistants, but there was no handshake with Peretz.
It was also a repeat of what had happened in the first game. Dara O’Shea had refused to shake hands with Israel captain Manor Solomon before Ireland’s 3-0 win in Debrecen, Hungary, last week, so there was already some attention on whether the same thing would happen again.
O’Shea was not involved in Sunday’s match as he had been excused to be with his wife for the birth of their child. Kelleher therefore captained the side, but Ireland’s approach to the pre-match handshake remained unchanged.
The game was played behind closed doors in Backa Topola, Serbia. It had originally been scheduled as an Ireland home fixture in Dublin, but was moved to a neutral venue after growing calls in Ireland for the national team to boycott the match against Israel.
There were other gestures before kick-off as well. Ireland’s players wore black armbands and bowed their heads during the Israeli national anthem, something they had also done before the first meeting between the two sides.
Israel’s players wore black armbands too, in memory of those killed during the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023. Peretz had “7.10” written on his armband.
Ireland players faced pressure before the games
The build-up to both fixtures had been dominated by the question of whether Ireland should play at all. More than 160 Irish sportspeople signed an open letter asking the Football Association of Ireland to reconsider the matches, while protests were also held before the squad left for the first game.
Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson spoke about the effect it was having on his players before the Debrecen fixture. “I felt that pressure growing day by day and it’s getting almost to a breaking limit now,” Hallgrimsson said during the pre-match press conference, according to the full transcript published by Irish broadcaster RTÉ.
He also tried to make Ireland’s position clear. “We are not playing with, we are playing against,” Hallgrimsson said, as the debate around the fixture continued.
Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu eventually decided not to take part in either match. The rest of the squad voted to go ahead with the fixtures, while the FAI maintained that pulling out could expose Ireland to sanctions from UEFA.
There was tension during the game, too. Troy Parrott gave Ireland the lead from the penalty spot in the 39th minute after Peretz fouled Jimmy Dunne, before Peretz equalised from close range early in the second half.
A disagreement also broke out as the teams left the field at half-time, and the referee had to step in. The game eventually finished 1-1, although the refusal to shake hands had already become one of the main talking points.
There was a recent parallel for Indian fans as well. India’s cricketers had not shaken hands with Pakistan after the Asian Games gold-medal match a day earlier, following similar scenes during the 2025 Asia Cup, when the usual post-match formalities also became part of the larger tension between the two teams.
The circumstances are different, but the sporting gesture ended up carrying a lot more weight in both cases. A handshake that would usually go unnoticed instead became part of the story.