THE FAI LOOKS set to face formal opposition from its own membership regarding its stance to fulfil the Nations League fixtures with Israel later this year.

In a letter sent to the 145 delegates of the association’s General Assembly – one of its three core governing pillars representing the professional, amateur and underage game – members are being asked to back a motion which would compel the FAI to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting.

The correspondence, seen by The 42, wants to bring forward a motion as soon as possible calling on the FAI to refuse to participate in the two scheduled games against Israel “on both legal and moral grounds”.

The motion has been proposed by the Professional Footballers’ Association Ireland (PFAI), Irish Football Supporters Partnership (IFSP), CK United, Cork City and Bohemian FC.

Ireland are due to play Israel on neutral territory on 27 September, followed by a meeting in Dublin on 4 October.

At an EGM prior to the FAI AGM last year, a 93% majority of the General Assembly voted to put forward a motion to Uefa to suspend Israel from official competition.

In their explanation to the General Assembly as to why the games would go ahead, the FAI said there could be “serious consequences” if they did not, and it would “harm the long-term sporting interests of Irish football”.

On Tuesday, a protest from Palestinian solidarity group “Stop The Games” took place outside the Dáil, while on Wednesday, Minister for Sport Patrick O’Donovan and Junior Minister for Sport Charlie McConalogue both told an Oireachtas committee that they do not plan on attending the Israel game.

As per FAI rules, 10% of General Assembly members are required to support the call to convene an EGM. The authors of the letter expect to have the required numbers by Thursday but have set a deadline of 5pm on Friday to respond.

A survery of the IFSP resulted in 75.6% of fans opposing the Israel games going ahead, while 63% of PFA Ireland membership also supported a boycott.

In the letter sent to delegates today it states that the aim is to “trigger an EGM where all delegates can debate and vote on this issue; empower the membership to have a healthy debate on the issue [and] strengthen the FAI’s reputation as a principled, rules-based association that listens to its members and reflects overwhelming public sentiment in Ireland.

“This motion, if passed, would be non-binding and we recognise the decision ultimately rests with the executive, but is about putting on record a clear signal of the feeling of many within the game here.

“Relating to the legal grounds, Uefa and Fifa statutes are clear: No association may organise clubs on the territory of another without consent. Every association must implement and enforce robust anti-racism policies. The Israel Football Association continues to blatantly breach these rules, and Uefa has failed to act. The number of teams on illegally occupied lands has now increased from 6 to 10 teams.

“On moral grounds the situation facing Palestinians needs no explanation. Since the EGM held last November we have seen many key stakeholders in our game call for the matches not to go ahead.

“We are writing to you regarding a proposal to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of the Football Association of Ireland as soon as possible to bring forward a motion calling on the FAI refuse to participate in the two scheduled fixtures against Israel later this year on both legal and moral grounds.”