Fresh from their stunning FIBA Women's EuroBasket victory over Group A top seeds Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ireland are back in action on Tuesday evening in a game where much of the focus will be on non-sporting matters.
Ireland, ranked 83rd in the world rankings, downed the 29th-ranked Bosnians in hugely impressive fashion on Sunday, winning 94-67.
It was the perfect response to their disappointing opening day defeat to third-seeds Luxembourg, a team Ireland (fourth) would have believed they could beat, but now attentions turn to their match with Israel in the neutral venue of Riga.
When the draw was made for their 2027 Women's Euro Basket qualification group, the immediate question facing Basketball Ireland was whether or not they would fulfil the fixture with Israel, over their country's war in Gaza.
After lengthy internal discussions, Basketball Ireland informed FIBA Europe that it would only agree to face Israel at a neutral venue, after FIBA made it clear that heavy sanctions would be imposed on Ireland, should they elect not to play.
The controversy follows a similar flashpoint in February 2024, when Ireland faced Israel in a 2025 Women's EuroBasket qualifier in Riga.
The Ireland players registered a protest beforehand by refusing to shake hands with their opponents in response to the team being called antisemitic by Israeli player Dor Sa'ar, branding the accusation "inflammatory and wholly inaccurate".
Ireland were beaten 87-57 in that game and also suffered a 90-61 defeat in a EuroBasket 2025 qualifier against the same team in Riga last November, meaning they’ll go into the game as heavy underdogs.
A win for Ireland would set them up nicely going into the second round of group games in March. The teams finishing first and second in the group will progress to the next round of qualifying, while third place could also be enough depending on ranking.
Former Ireland international Rebecca O’Keeffe admitted that she was impressed with the way Ireland had bounced back against Bosnia in Tallaght.
Speaking on RTÉ's Inside Sport, she said: " They would have been very disappointed after that match against Luxembourg, especially because they would have had high expectations and targeted that game as a win, but it just didn't go their way.
"Their qualification hopes would have been down off the back of that, and the Bosnia and Herzegovina game on paper would have been tougher.
"It was a huge win, and a convincing win at that. They just took that disappointment from the loss to Luxembourg and used it against Bosnia and Herzegovina with a great team performance.
"They just looked sharper. Defensively, they were really good and contained the biggest threats. It also helped having a full crowd for a home game."
However, O’Keeffe does not believe that the game against Israel should go ahead, despite the fragile ceasefire in place in Gaza, and reiterated her calls for a boycott of the match, having made similar statements for the previous two encounters, as a member of Irish Sport for Palestine.
" I don't think Israel should be in this competition, firstly," she said. "I don't think that our team should have to play against them tomorrow.
"They've said they're going to play, so will they also refuse to shake hands this time round? We don't know. It remains to be seen.
"From a sporting point of view, I don't think the game should go ahead and I don't think Israel should be in this competition."
