29th May 2026
Stop the Game!
Yesterday, on Thursday 28th May, members of Conradh na Saoirse Náisiúnta, Anti-Imperialist Action, LOI Fans of Palestine, and other Palestine solidarity activists disrupted the Ireland vs. Qatar game in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin by throwing tennis balls onto the pitch and dropping banners demanding: "Stop the Game".
This was part of a wider campaign to call on the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to boycott the upcoming game between Ireland and the football team of the Zionist entity.
This match would see the Irish team playing against active war criminals who have been members of the Israeli Occupation Forces. It is a shameful attempt to normalise the genocidal settler-colonial state that is currently attacking Palestine, Lebanon and Iran. As we dropped tennis balls onto the field yesterday, within the very same hour, the Zionist entity dropped numerous bombs and missiles onto Lebanese and Palestinian villages, killing and destroying hundreds of lives. We refuse to be bystanders to this injustice that is rewarded through match invitations and protected by normalisation.The "Israeli" settlers have violated UEFA's own guidelines by operating clubs in Occupied Palestinian Territories, and in November, the FAI passed a vote with 93% approval to call on UEFA to suspend "Israel" and ban its participation in future competitions. Where UEFA will not enforce this, FAI must.
All of us have an obligation to act against genocide by any means necessary. This is merely the beginning of a campaign by anti-imperialist activists across Ireland and will only escalate further in order to ensure that these games do not go ahead.