Ireland and Qatar halted twice by protests against upcoming Israel fixtures

Republic of Ireland are set to face Israel twice in UEFA-nations-league" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="123589" data-entity-type="event">UEFA Nations League matches, but are facing calls for a boycott.The international football friendly between the Republic of Ireland and Qatar in Dublin was twice halted by home fan protests against their side’s upcoming fixtures against Israel.The Irish are due to face Israel twice in the UEFA-nations-league" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="123589" data-entity-type="event">UEFA Nations League competition, but have faced strong backlash against the fixtures with calls for the games to be boycotted.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Scotland fans book 20 school buses for games at ‘inaccessible’ US World Cuplist 2 of 4Iran seeks multiple-entry US visas for its World Cup squad and stafflist 3 of 4Messi’s GOAT statue in India to be removed over safety concernslist 4 of 4US, Mexico, Canada announce Ebola-related travel measures for World Cupend of listTennis balls covered by images of the Palestinian flag were thrown onto the field of play after 10 and 20 minutes of Thursday’s match at Aviva Stadium in the Irish capital, causing play to be halted.Qatar were playing the fixture as part of their preparation for this summer’s FIFA World Cup, for which the Irish failed to qualify.On Wednesday, the Irish parliament – the Dail – saw new protests over the Israel fixtures, while the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) passed a motion in November requesting that UEFA immediately suspend Israel from international competition, but received no support from European football’s governing body.In Wednesday’s pre-match news conference, ahead of the Qatar fixture, Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson challenged his players to “win this war” against Israel when asked about the Nations League encounters.Heimir Hallgrimsson, manager of the Republic of Ireland’s team, helps to clear tennis balls which have been thrown onto the pitch as a protest to an upcoming match between the Republic of Ireland and Israel [Charles McQuillan/Getty Images]The Icelander has previously added his name to calls for Israel to be banned from international football, and added in the media briefing: “It’s an obstacle I don’t like, and it’s unfair for the players to be in this position and us to be in this position.”