Irish women's national basketball team refuses to shake hands with Israeli team

Shortly before the match, Basketball Ireland announced on social media that its athletes would not participate in the official pre- or post-match handshake ceremony because Israeli basketball players had accused the Irish players of 'antisemitism'.

Basketball Ireland emphasized that these comments by the Israeli players were published on the official website of the Israel Basketball Association.

In an interview published on the Israel Basketball Association's official website before the match, basketball player Saar stated, "It's known that they are quite antisemitic and that's no secret, and maybe that's why it's going to be a tough game. We talk about it among ourselves. We know they don't like us and we will give everything on the court, especially in this game."

"PROVOCATIVE AND ENTIRELY UNTRUE"

In response, Basketball Ireland described the comment as "provocative and entirely untrue" and announced that they had filed a complaint with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).

Basketball Ireland stated that they fully support the players who chose not to shake hands with the opposing team during the ceremony.

The match, which was originally scheduled to be played in Israel in November, was moved to Riga at the request of Ireland, which had asked for a neutral venue.

ISRAEL WON

Following the appearance of photos on the federation's official website showing Israeli soldiers who had come to watch the Israeli women's basketball team's training sessions, an intense campaign had been launched for the Irish female basketball players not to play the match.

FIBA had announced that if the team did not play the match, Ireland would face a 180 thousand dollar fine and disqualification from the tournaments to be held in 2025 and 2027.

The match, which some Irish athletes refused to play, was held behind closed doors for security reasons, and Israel won the contest 87-57.