Tennis balls carrying Palestinian flags halt Ireland’s Nations League draw

Ireland’s 2-2 draw with Austria in the UEFA Nations League was briefly suspended after protesters threw tennis balls bearing Palestinian flags on to the pitch at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.

Ireland were leading 1-0 in front of a full house when the referee stopped play in the 20th minute. A small number of tennis balls were thrown from behind both goals, prompting the players to leave the field for a short cooling break.

According to Reuters, the match resumed just over two minutes later.

Later in the first half, a man wrapped in a Palestinian flag attempted to enter the pitch. Security staff intervened and escorted him away.

Ireland has been among the European countries most critical of Israel over its war in Gaza. Protests calling for the Irish national team to boycott matches against Israel have continued since February, when the UEFA Nations League draw placed the two sides in the same group.

Ireland goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu withdrew from the squad before Sunday’s 3-0 away victory over Israel, a match played in Hungary. The fixture went ahead after the players voted twice on Saturday, with a majority choosing on both occasions to play.

There were no further incidents during Thursday’s match. The Stop the Match campaign issued a statement during half-time, saying: “The protest is now over.”

It added: “This was a symbolic and deliberately limited action, but it was necessary and carried out in solidarity with Gavin Bazunu and the Palestinian people facing genocide.”

Troy Parrott gave Ireland the lead in the 12th minute with an impressive individual goal. He dribbled past three Austrian defenders, put the ball through one of their legs and entered the penalty area before placing a low shot into the far corner.

Parrott doubled Ireland’s advantage from the penalty spot with the final kick of the first half. However, the hosts surrendered their two-goal lead after the interval as Austria substitutes Alexander Prass and Michael Gregoritsch scored.

Bazunu was among the substitutes on Thursday but will not feature in Ireland’s next home match against Israel on Sunday.

That fixture has been moved by the Football Association of Ireland to Serbia and will be played behind closed doors in Backa Topola.

In November, Football Association of Ireland members voted to ask the board to seek UEFA’s suspension of Israel’s participation in European competitions. However, a proposal to proceed with both scheduled matches against Israel was passed at a meeting in July.