The FAI have confirmed that the game against Israel will be fulfilled after a tense day of talks and a player vote in Hungary.

The news broke early Saturday morning after a pre-training press conference, originally scheduled for 9:30am Central European Time, was pushed back until after training, around 11:30am.

However, the scheduled training at 10am seemingly never took place, as players never came out onto the pitch in Debrecen, Hungary, because they didn’t leave their hotel.

Ireland
Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu during a Republic of Ireland training session at the FAI National Training Centre in Abbotstown, Dublin. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Reports emerged that Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper and 22-time Ireland-capped Gavin Bazunu told the squad in a team meeting Friday night that he did not want to be involved in the match against Israel. It then circulated that as many as seven unnamed players were supposedly in the same boat.

The players then met with Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson in their hotel, as media who were originally at the stadium in Debrecen congregated outside the hotel to await the statement.

It was then announced that a press conference would take place at the stadium in the afternoon, where FAI Chief Executive David Courell announced that a vote took place among the playing squad, where a ‘majority’ of players decided to continue in fulfilling the fixtures.

Heimir Hallgrimsson Ireland
Head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Heimir Hallgrimsson confirmed that only one player pulled out of the squad, while everyone else is available for selection. The players have also requested to remove their media obligations for the rest of the international window.

The Republic of Ireland players will wear black armbands, parts of the pre-match ceremony will not be participated in by the squad and the FAI and the players are to make a charitable donation from funds from the Austria home game next week.