Stop The Game Protest Met With Gardaí Violence

Socialist republicans and left-wing activists were met with violence during their peaceful occupation of the Department of Tourism and Sport on the 29th of July. Their aim was to secure a meeting with the Minister of Sport, Patrick O’Donovan. However, the FF/FG government refused to engage, and instead, called the Gardaí on the peaceful protestors.

“They called Gardaí who manhandled protestors and removed them from the reception. This is yet another attempt by the State to clamp down on the right to protest. The game against the Zionist entity must not go ahead. It’s a clear attempt at sports washing the genocide in Palestine, “ the Anti-Imperialist Action Ireland group said in a statement. 

The upcoming Ireland versus Israel game has seen mass resistance from the working class, with many citing concerns about playing the settler-colonial genocidal country of “Israel” being used to legitimize its ongoing occupation of Palestine. Equally, it has seen the intensification of oppression and co-optation, with volunteers being removed from soccer clubs over expressing pro-Palestine sentiment, and the FAI voting to allow the matches despite opposition from rank-and-file membership.

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIFA and other global sporting bodies put in place and enacted sanctions and boycotts on Russian teams and athletes playing and competing, which started on the 24th February 2022, exposing the double standards of Western hypocrisy. 

“Anti Imperialist Action Ireland will continue to support the Stop The Game campaign and calls on other republicans and pro Palestine activists to do the same, “ the statement concluded.