Irish keeper Gavin Bazunu defended his decision to pull out of tonight’s controversial Ireland-Israel match by insisting he isn’t against Israelis or Jews, but against the atrocities in Gaza.
asserted
he → defend → Gaza
The second-choice stopper made the comments after a day of drama that saw the men’s national side vote as to whether to proceed with the match following Mr Bazunu’s decision at the team hotel in Debrecen, Hungary, yesterday morning.
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side → make → Debrecen
According to former Irish manager Brian Kerr, that vote occurred in the absence of Mr Bazunu and ended 14-8 in favour of fulfilling the fixture – but the FAI last night refused to confirm or deny those figures.
uncertain
FAI → accord → figures
In further criticism, Mr Kerr called on the FAI board to resign and accused it of ‘collaborating’ in Israeli sportswashing.
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Kerr → call → sportswashing
After a day of high drama in Hungary, Mr Bazunu posted a statement on Instagram: ‘Representing my country means everything to me.
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Representing → post → me
‘I have the utmost respect for every single one of my teammates, the manager, his staff and the Irish people.
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I → have → teammates
‘However, I have reached a decision that I have not taken lightly.
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I → reach → that
I am a man of strong faith and try my best to be a person of character and principle, therefore I feel it would be wrong to participate in the upcoming fixtures against Israel.
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it → try → Israel
My decision is based purely upon my belief that the killing of innocent people is wrong.
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killing → base → people
It is important to note that my stance is not in opposition to the Israeli people or the Jewish community but against the atrocities in the region.
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stance → note → region
‘There are few times when you get a chance in life to stand for something bigger and I strongly believe that this is one of them.’
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this → be → them
A source close to the player last night told the Irish Mail on Sunday that the Dubliner’s family is proud of him of standing up for his beliefs.
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family → tell → beliefs
‘Gavin is a hero,’ they said.
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they → say → ?
´What he’s done took great courage.
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done → do → courage
Speaking on Virgin Media’s coverage of the England-Spain UEFA Nations League match, the former manager who was in charge of the side the last time Ireland played Israel revealed he had spoken with sources around the dressing room.
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he → speak → room
‘I understand the vote was about 14-8,’ he said.
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he → understand → ?
‘Now they didn’t allow Gavin Bazunu into the meeting today; he wasn’t told about the meeting and he didn’t get the opportunity to register his vote.’
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he → allow → vote
‘If the vote was something like that, it appears an awful lot of the players didn’t want to play.
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lot → appear → players
‘It’s obvious from the body language of the people that we saw, David Courell there, that he didn’t look like he was in a very happy position,’ Mr Kerr said.
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Kerr → ’ → position
‘They didn’t make the decision, the board made the decision and they are the ones who should face some of the consequences on this.
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who → make → this
‘In my view, the board of the FAI, the president of the FAI, the chairman of the board, should resign, given the mess they have created.
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they → resign → mess
‘We have not heard from them.
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We → hear → them
We have heard from David Courell, John Martin to a certain degree.
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We → hear → degree
‘What we have is an absolute mess and the players have been put in a dreadful position and the essence of this here is, do we support the Israeli government in the sportswashing attempt that’s going on by playing international football, while, at the same time, they are committing genocide against the people of Palestine?
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they → put → Palestine
‘That’s the essence of it.
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That → ’ → it
And if the FAI, they want to use their team to collaborate in this farce of playing against the Israeli team, they need to look at themselves seriously, because that is what’s going on, and that’s the essence of this.
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that → want → this
Which side do you stand on?’
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you → stand → side
Meanwhile, a furious political row erupted as the Government was criticised for not intervening to cancel the match in protest at the human catastrophe in Gaza.
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Government → erupt → Gaza
Sports Minister Patrick O’Donovan last night reiterated that the decision to proceed with the match was a decision for the UEFA football authorities, and not a political one.
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decision → reiterate → authorities
However, the country’s largest union said the ‘extraordinary circumstances’ surrounding the players’ vote ‘heightened concerns about the health and welfare pressures on squad members and FAI staff’.
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circumstances → say → members
SIPTU Deputy General Secretary Greg Ennis said: ‘The issue here is not simply which way the majority of players voted.
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majority → say → players
It is the fact that our international players have found themselves in a position where they had to hold such a vote at all.
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they → find → vote
‘Only two days ago, SIPTU raised serious questions about the duty of care owed to these players and other workers involved in the fixtures.
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SIPTU → raise → fixtures
What has happened today makes those questions even more relevant,’ he said.
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he → happen → ?
‘These are young sportspeople who should be concentrating on representing their country.
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who → concentrate → country
Instead, their preparations have involved prolonged discussions about whether they should take to the field, differing views within the squad and the highly unusual step of a formal player vote.’
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they → involve → vote
The hugely controversial game against Israel is scheduled to go ahead today in Debrecen, Hungary, after the Irish squad voted in favour of fulfilling the fixture.
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squad → schedule → fixture
But this only came after FAI chief executive Mr Courell revealed at yesterday’s delayed press conference that the squad had held a ‘four-hour-long meeting’, at the end of which they voted by a ‘significant majority’ to play.
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they → come → majority
Mr Courell confirmed that one player had ‘expressed their discomfort’ overnight about taking part in the match which led to another conversation yesterday.
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which → confirm → conversation
This player was substitute goalkeeper Mr Bazunu, but this was not confirmed at the press briefing.
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this → confirm → briefing
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
