Knight, who plays for Bristol City, would have preferred the match to be cancelled. 'I don't think this match should go ahead, but it will', he told the BBC. The Irish national team will face Israel on neutral ground in Hungary on Sunday. The core of the conflict is the war in Gaza, which has been labelled a genocide by the United Nations and the Irish government.
Voetbal International reports that Irish public broadcaster RTÉ is contractually obliged to broadcast the matches, but will do so in a stripped-back version. There will be no pre-match or post-match programming, and the station will not send its own commentator. They have also decided not to create advertising space around the matches.
The Irish national team will play two matches against Israel, with the first taking place on Sunday in Hungary.