Uefa reject FAI’s request to be kept apart from Israel due to no history of ‘direct conflict’

Uefa have rejected a request by the Football Association of Ireland to be kept apart from Israel in future competition draws. European football’s governing body keep certain countries apart on political grounds, including Spain and Gibraltar, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Ukraine and Russia.

FAI chief executive David Courell asked Uefa earlier this year whether Ireland could be similarly kept apart from Israel, but the European governing body rejected his request, telling him these decisions were not based on “public sentiment”.