Israel UEFA complicity upheld by Irish football

Joanna Byrne, chairperson at Drogheda United football club, has been dismissed by the club’s American owners, the Trivela Group over her principled opposition to Israel. The shameful decision follows remarks she made in February calling on the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to not play their Nations League fixture against so-called ‘Israel’.

In a terse statement on Monday March 23, Trivela Group said the following on Drogheda’s website:

Trivela Group can confirm that, pursuant to its authority as sole shareholder of Drogheda United FC, Joanna Byrne has been removed by Trivela Group as a director of the Club.

At this time, the Board of Directors consists of Benjamin Boycott, Marc Koretzky, Barton Lee, and club CEO Rian Wogan. Mr. Boycott for the time being, will serve as the sole Chairperson, and the club will look to appoint a local director and Co-Chair in due course.

Once again, we thank Ms Byrne for her longstanding and ongoing dedication to the Club and its success.

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Israel defended: ‘cold, underhand move’

Byrne also serves as a Sinn Féin TD, representing Louth in the Dáil. In a statement released Monday on her Facebook page, she responded to her dismissal, describing it as a:

…cold, underhand move by Trivela, initiated in the dark of the night, which was planned and co-ordinated without any consultation with me. This is symptomatic of the way they do business.

The controversy began on 12 February 2026 when Byrne, in her role as Sinn Féin spokesperson on Culture, Communications and Sport, made a statement denouncing the appalling decision of the FAI to go ahead with the 4 October fixture against the Zionist entity’s national team. She said:

In November, the FAI voted to submit a motion to UEFA to ban Israel from its European club and international competitions. That was the correct moral and principled position to take.

Therefore, I am extremely angry and dismayed that the FAI have confirmed they will play against Israel.

It appears that their morals, and principled position, was only on paper – not in actions where it counts.

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She contrasted UEFA’s treatment of the settler-colony with the response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, saying:

There are double standards here from UEFA. Russia was expelled from all club and international competitions by UEFA in 2022 following their brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine. The same principle should be applied to Israel.

Byrne concluded:

Israel is an apartheid state who have engaged in ethnic cleansing and genocide. Their behaviour cannot be accepted or normalised.

They should be treated the same as Apartheid South Africa was, and be banned and boycotted by all.

Trivela Group had privately indicated to Byrne in mid-February that they expected her to resign for these entirely laudable statements. Her opinions are shared by most of the Irish public, and a majority of the nation’s professional footballers. She refused to comply, however, saying:

I stand over those comments. They were made from a deeply held belief in equality, human rights and the power of sport to take principled positions – as it has done many times in history.

Amoral profiteers running cherished sporting institutions

The Trivela Group operate a multi-club ownership (MCO) model. Apart from Drogheda, Trivela own Silkeborg in Denmark, Walsall FC in England, and Trivela FC in Togo. They have previously fallen foul of their own model, resulting in Drogheda being unable to play in the 2025/26 UEFA Conference League, as Silkeborg had also qualified for the same competition. UEFA’s rules forbid multiple clubs under the same owner from competing in the same tournament.

The American outfit appear to practice a form of football extractivism in Africa, grooming talented players there, before farming them out to European clubs they own. They can then potentially be sold on for a big fee to European giants, cutting the original African club out of any profits.

They attempt to present themselves as kindly benefactors, acting as “thoughtful stewards of talent and resources”. Given the bitter experience of profiteering US owners, it would be naive to believe this shit. Walsall supporters expressed their dissatisfaction last month, suggesting:

…the club’s immediate sporting objectives are being subordinated to wider ownership priorities.

This is a glaring reminder of how capitalism outrageously violates basic democratic principles. Football clubs are typically historic, deeply cherished centres of a community. Yet the will of tens of thousands of people can be overridden by one rich arsehole if the latter owns the club.

The disgraceful treatment of Byrne proves Trivela’s moral vacuity, as they choose to stand with an apartheid genocidal entity rather than with those who oppose it. The one useful thing they’ve done is maintain a CEO – Ben Boycott – whose name reminds us of the necessary course of action needed against loathsome corporate ghouls and the Zionist entity itself.

Featured image via the Canary