UEFA defends policy after rejecting Ireland’s request not to play Israel

UEFA responds after Ireland’s football association says its request to avoid future pairings with Israel was ⁠rejected.UEFA has said that decisions on whether national teams should be kept apart in ⁠⁠competition draws are made ⁠⁠on a case-by-case basis and guided primarily by security considerations, after the Republic of Ireland’s football association said its request to avoid future pairings with Israel had been ⁠⁠rejected.Football Association of Ireland chief executive David Courell said on Friday that it had asked UEFA if the Republic of Ireland and Israel could be separated in future draws ⁠⁠after being paired in February’s Nations League draw.They are due to meet in that competition on September 27 and October 4.European football’s governing body said requests to stop teams being drawn against each other are considered individually.“Decisions to avoid certain teams being ‌‌drawn against each other are made taking into consideration several factors, especially conditions between the two countries leading to structural risks for security,” UEFA said in a statement on Saturday.“UEFA handles every situation very carefully on its own merits and monitors all facts and developments.”Courell told reporters the FAI had been informed that such an arrangement would not be possible because Ireland and Israel had “never been in direct conflict”.The Israel-football-association" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="121569" data-entity-type="organization">Israel Football Association also responded ⁠⁠to Courell’s remarks, questioning whether a formal request had been ⁠⁠made to UEFA.“The question should be directed at UEFA: was there an official inquiry or request regarding this matter, or is this merely another inconsequential statement?” IFA head of communications Shlomi Barzel told the Reuters news agency.