Ireland players refuse handshake with Israel captain
Players also wore black armbands before the Nations League match moved to Serbia.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
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Photograph: WKMG (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Ireland players wore black armbands and bowed their heads during the Israeli national anthem before a Nations League match in Serbia.
- Goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher refused to shake hands with Israel captain Dor Peretz, repeating an action from the previous match.
- Israeli players wore black armbands to commemorate those killed in the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks.
- The match was moved to Serbia for operational reasons after calls for a boycott.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 3 of the 9 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
50/100
Craft
65/100
Hype
45/100
9 sources · methodology
Before their Nations League soccer match on Sunday, Ireland players wore black armbands and bowed their heads during the Israeli national anthem. Israeli players also wore black armbands, in memory of those killed in the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023. Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher, acting as captain for the match, refused to shake hands with Israel captain Dor Peretz. Kelleher did shake hands with the match officials. The game was played in Bačka Topola, Serbia, a neutral venue chosen for operational reasons following calls for a boycott.
Disagreement on handshake refusal
While WKMG, Medicine Hat News, Newsday, and Winnipeg Free Press report that Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher refused to shake hands with Israel captain Dor Peretz, the digest from voetbalprimeur.be states Kelleher refused the handshake of the Israeli captain. The digest from voetbalprimeur.nl also states Kelleher refused the handshake of the Israeli captain. Welt's digest states that Ireland's captain refused the handshake. Klix's digest states Irish football players refused to shake hands.
What the coverage left out
None of the centre or right-rated reports mention that reserve goalkeeper Gavin Bazuno decided to skip both games, stating it was his 'personal belief that the killing of innocent people is wrong'. The centre-rated reports do not mention the FAI's motion calling on UEFA to ban Israel from competitions, nor that the game would be played with no fans present. The right-rated reports do not mention that the match was moved for operational reasons, nor that Ireland players repeated actions from the previous match.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 1 time, most recently on 4 Oct 2026, 20:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
4 rated outlets
- The centre-rated reports led on the actions of the Ireland players. WKMG, Medicine Hat News, Newsday, and Winnipeg Free Press all highlighted that Ireland players wore black armbands and bowed their heads during the Israeli national anthem. They also reported that goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher refused to shake hands with Israel captain Dor Peretz. These reports noted that Israeli players wore black armbands in memory of those killed in the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023. The relocation of the match to a neutral venue in Serbia for operational reasons was also mentioned across these reports.
Right
2 rated outlets
- The right-rated reports focused on the political nature of the event. Welt's digest stated that politics had replaced fair play, calling the incident an 'Eklat with Announcement' and noting that Ireland's captain refused the obligatory handshake and showed disrespect during the anthem. The Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer digest reported that Ireland players wore black armbands and bowed their heads during the Israeli national anthem, and that Israeli players also wore black armbands in memory of those killed in the Hamas-led attacks.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Ireland players refuse handshake with Israel captain?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 67% are rated centre, 33% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 9. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Ireland players refuse handshake with Israel captain left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Ireland players refuse handshake with Israel captain biased?
- Ireland players refuse handshake with Israel captain is one event reported by 9 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which outlets covered Ireland players refuse handshake with Israel captain?
- 9 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- Why did Ireland players wear black armbands?
- Ireland players wore black armbands during the Israeli national anthem before their Nations League match. The Israeli players also wore black armbands to commemorate those killed in the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023.
- Did any Ireland players refuse to shake hands with the Israeli team?
- Yes, Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher refused to shake hands with Israel captain Dor Peretz before the match. This action was a repeat of what happened in the previous game between the two teams.
- Why was the match played in Serbia?
- The match between Ireland and Israel was moved to a neutral venue in Serbia for operational reasons. This decision followed widespread calls for a boycott of the game in protest of Israel's actions in Gaza.
Read it at the source
9 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
4- Ireland soccer players again wear black armbands and refuse handshakes with Israel team (opens Medicine Hat News in a new tab)
Medicine Hat News — is Medicine Hat News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ireland soccer players again wear black armbands and refuse handshakes with Israel team (opens Newsday in a new tab)
- Ireland soccer players again wear black armbands and refuse handshakes with Israel team (opens WKMG in a new tab)
- Ireland soccer players again wear black armbands and refuse handshakes with Israel team (opens Winnipeg Free Press in a new tab)
Winnipeg Free Press — is Winnipeg Free Press biased? Our profile of this outlet
Right
2- Nations League: Eklat with Announcement – Again Ireland's Captain Refuses Handshake (opens Welt in a new tab)
- Ireland soccer players again wear black armbands and refuse handshakes with Israel team (opens Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer in a new tab)
Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer — is Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
3- Kelleher Refuses Handshake of Israeli Captain for Ireland (opens voetbalprimeur.be in a new tab)
voetbalprimeur.be — is voetbalprimeur.be biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Irish Football Players in Serbia Also Lowered Their Heads During the Anthem of Israel and Refused to Shake Hands (opens Klix in a new tab)
- Images: Kelleher Refuses Handshake of Israeli Captain for Israel (opens voetbalprimeur.nl in a new tab)
voetbalprimeur.nl — is voetbalprimeur.nl biased? Our profile of this outlet
How did this read?
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