UEFA Defends Policy After Rejecting Ireland's Request to Avoid Facing Israel

UEFA has defended its fixture policy after the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) said the governing body had rejected its request to avoid being paired with Israel in future competitions, according to Al Jazeera.

The FAI had asked UEFA not to schedule matches between Ireland and Israel, but UEFA said it could not grant the request, according to the report.

UEFA said its policy on fixture allocation is applied consistently to all its member associations, without singling out any particular team for exclusion, Al Jazeera reported.

The report did not specify the exact reasoning the FAI gave for its request or provide additional detail on UEFA's response beyond its defense of the policy.

Al Jazeera's report did not indicate when a decision on any upcoming Ireland-Israel fixture might be finalized or whether the FAI planned further appeals.