FAI DIRECTOR OF football John Martin says the Republic of Ireland “shouldn’t be in the position where we have to play” Israel in the upcoming Uefa Nations League.

But he insists players must be protected and that both he and chief executive David Courell along with the association’s board share responsibility for deciding not to boycott the controversial fixtures.

The 42 revealed on Friday how RTÉ is planning to drastically reduce its coverage of the games with no studio punditry or commentary to be used.

Manager Heimir Hallgrímsson names his squad for a four-game international window on Thursday, and while no players have formally informed the FAI of a desire not to be called up, Martin stressed that he was not privy to every conversation that has taken place.

Martin says there is “uneasy from everybody” about having to face Israel with the first game in Hungary on 27 September followed by a behind-closed-doors meeting in Serbia on 4 October. The latter fixture was due to take place in Dublin but was moved “for operational reasons”.

The 42 also detailed on Sunday how Uefa provided a shortlist of venues the FAI could use as a neutral venue and that all of them were based in Serbia. Backa Topola, 160 kilometres from capital Belgrade, was chosen and while Ireland begin the campaign away to Kosovo on 24 September and will also place Austria in Aviva Stadium on 1 October, the games with Israel will dominate the window.

“It’s a really difficult situation,” Martin said. “There’s unease from everybody. Unease from me personally, unease from the executive, unease from the board. Clearly, because I think we all agree we shouldn’t be in the position where we have to play the games.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt there, we shouldn’t be in that position. But having found ourselves in the position, obviously we made the decision, the board, supported by the executive, to play the game.

“We all agree, and the association has been on the record to say that we don’t want to be playing these games. That is the reality. I don’t want to play the games, but for that to impact Irish football, that’s where I would maybe disagree with some of the voices, say we shouldn’t play the game,” Martin said in a later interview with RTÉ.

The FAI estimated that not fulfilling the fixtures would cost the association upwards of €5 million and Martin reiterated his stance that the players should not be the ones dealing with criticism for taking part in the games.

“Everything we’re doing is with a view to trying to protect the players. Even in terms of ownership of the decision. We don’t put it on the players. We put the decision on David [Courell], myself, the board, it’s really important that we own that and hopefully people understand that the players are playing on the basis of the decision the association made.

“At all stages, we’re conscious to protect the players where at all possible, because their profile is so high, that a natural spotlight falls on them. There’s obviously things that we do in the background, operationally, where some of it’s no different than any international game where we hope to have protections in place, but you can’t get away from the fact that this is very, very different than anything we’ve experienced before.”

Martin was speaking the day after the Sunday Times reported that the FAI were investigating potential breaches of third-party ownership regarding the contracts of two Shamrock Rovers players, Alex and Michael Noonan.

The pair are not related but Rovers self-reported to Fifa about whether a percentage of any transfer fee for the two players was due to the players’ agent, David Moss.

Martin was the League of Ireland club’s chief executive at the time, and while Alex Noonan has joined Ipswich Town it was also confirmed earlier on Monday that Michael Noonan was set to pen a deal with Nottingham Forest on a free transfer next July.

Moss has already stated that he complied with “all legal and regulatory requirements”, regarding the players’ contracts and Martin addressed the situation further.

“[I'm] very comfortable with my time at the club and stand by everything I did in the club. I did it in the best interest of the club. Probably the only thing I’d add to that is since I’ve left the club I’ve been very dignified, very respectful and very professional towards the club and my intention is to remain being very dignified towards the club because I think that’s really important to my role and in football in general.

“There’s probably not enough of it in football, that in the role of director of football I think showing dignity and respect to people is something that’s really important for the game and that’s my position, that’s how I’d approach it going forward.

“I won’t be getting into an argument or calling people out publicly just in general as a rule because it’s not really how I was brought up, it’s not how I built my own professional career and I just think that football needs that. I think it’s the right thing for football in Ireland to have someone who behaves that way.

“It’s closed for me from the minute I walked out of Shamrock Rovers. Whatever comes of this comes of this and I can genuinely tell you I have no concerns, no worries. I’ve moved on, I’ve way too much to be getting on in this role.

“If something was to come out of it, if there’s an oversight or whatever it be, then so be it, I’ll hold my hands up. But the story could be a man makes a mistake or not, I don’t know. But I don’t care, I’ve moved on, I work for the FAI now, I’ve got loads of things going on.”

Martin expanded on one of those projects that is happening, detailing some of the FAI’s plans for the redevelopment of a National Training Centre on the Sport Ireland campus that would allow the FAI to properly cater for underage and senior internationals.

The director of football said it was “scandalous” that they do not have “a fit for purpose training centre.”

As it stands, the FAI rent space from Sport Ireland in Abbotstown and this is just one of the reasons why 73 of 75 underage internationals for boys and girls up to and including U-19 level will take place outside of Ireland this year.

“We see our best female and male international players bussing in and bussing out from hotels. For us as a developed nation and as a football association, to not have a fit for purpose training centre is scandalous.

“It is a top priority. But it is not something I can impact greatly in my role. It is for the association as a whole but I thought it was important to flag it here. I can’t speak to the money. In terms of going to tender for designers, that is well advanced. We’d love to be in a position to have something we can use for the Euros [in 2028].

“It would massively change what we do for the seniors and underage. Abbotstown should be a place where every kid in Ireland wants to go for tournaments and events in the national training centre. There is a cohort of underage Ireland internationals who will never play international football in Ireland. That is wrong. The campus should be a real hub, there should be a place to stay and toilet facilities for players and parents.”