Republic of Ireland captain Nathan Collins has said the players need to “trust the FAI and the Government” to make the right decision on the upcoming Nations League games between Ireland and Israel.
Heimir Hallgrímsson’s team are scheduled to play Israel away on September 27th, most likely in Hungary, and then at the Aviva Stadium on October 4th. But there is widespread opposition to the staging of the fixtures, despite the FAI’s stance that they will fulfil the games.
Last November, the FAI sent a motion to Uefa calling for the Israeli FA’s suspension from European club and international competitions.
Ahead of Thursday’s friendly against Qatar in Dublin, Collins was asked if the Ireland players intended discussing the situation among themselves, with the first of the Israel games only four months away.
He said: “There will be something for the players to talk about. It’s been tough, though, because the squads have been so split.
“Obviously you’ve had a lot of senior players in the last camp (for the World Cup playoff against the Czech Republic in March) and a lot of different amounts here, so we all need to be there together at once.
“For players, we just have to trust the FAI. We have to trust the Government that they know what they’re doing. We’re picked to play football. We’re picked to represent our country. It’s a tough situation for us to be in and we have to trust the people around us that they know what they are doing.”
Brentford defender Collins (25) said he would respect any of his Ireland teammates if they choose to take a stand on the Israel games.
“What we would speak about is hard to say, because you need the whole group together. But if individuals want to take a stand, we are not going to stand against them, we are not going to hold them back,” he said.
“They are entitled to their own opinions. If they are very strong about that, we can’t stop them.”