Republic of Ireland press conference halted amid racism questions

WHAT HAPPENED
Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson's pre-match news conference on Saturday was brought to an abrupt close after journalists asked about two sensitive matters: an in‑flight attack on a pilot earlier in the week and allegations of racism involving Irish players during last Sunday's 3-0 win over Israel. FAI head of communications Kieran Crowley ended the session after calling those allegations "completely untrue".

Hallgrimsson had spent more than 11 minutes answering questions about Sunday's Nations League Group B3 'home' game against Israel in Serbia, and revealed defender Dara O'Shea was absent as his wife was due to give birth and "may arrive back in Backa Topola prior to Sunday's 19:45 BST kick-off". When asked about the flight incident and the accusations of racism, Hallgrimsson declined to comment and said he would not "get involved" as the matters would be processed elsewhere: "I haven't read anything and it's not something I want to get involved with. It goes to a process, both in our department and with Uefa. Something was reported by both teams so I just hope we can focus on football and football will be the winner after this. I have not gone into details looking at this as I have enough to think about."

KEY CONTEXT
The Israel fixtures have dominated the international window. The FAI confirmed it is investigating reports of racist abuse directed towards striker Adam Idah by Israel fans in Debrecen. Since the draw in February, a Stop The Game campaign sought to boycott the fixtures in protest at the Israel–Gaza war; goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu withdrew from the games, saying "it would be wrong to participate", while FAI chief executive David Courell said a players' vote to play passed by a "significant majority". There were also protests during the Republic of Ireland's 2-2 draw with Austria in Dublin, including tennis balls thrown onto the pitch and a brief pitch invader waving a Palestine flag.

Hallgrimsson also spoke about the mood in the squad, saying the players had adopted a group prayer before leaving the dressing room led by Conor Coventry, who he joked is now known in the squad as "Brother Coventry".

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Republic of Ireland face Israel in Serbia on Sunday with kick-off at 19:45 BST. The FAI investigation into reported abuse of Adam Idah and any processes involving UEFA remain separate from the team's match preparations.