The decision by Republic of Ireland and Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu to refuse to play against Israel for ethical reasons has highlighted eight notable occasions when football went beyond sporting competition, as players, clubs and national teams chose to defend humanitarian and political causes despite the losses, sanctions and media pressure that followed.
The Ireland-Israel Nations League match attracted widespread public and political attention after the draw was held in February. This came amid longstanding popular solidarity in Ireland with the Palestinians, alongside calls to boycott the match over the massacres in Gaza. Moving the fixture to neutral ground in Serbia did not change Bazunu’s position.
The Irish goalkeeper announced his withdrawal from the fixture, explaining in an official statement that representing his country meant a great deal to him, but that his moral convictions prevented him from taking part while innocent people were being killed.
Breitner boycotts the World Cup in Argentina
He stressed that his decision stemmed from his rejection of the atrocities being committed in the region, putting his moral stance before the opportunity to wear the national shirt in the match. The decision recalls West Germany player Paul Breitner’s stance on the World Cup hosted by Argentina in 1978.
While Johan Cruyff’s absence from the tournament was long associated with a story of political boycott, it later emerged that he had stayed away out of fear for his family after it was subjected to a horrific kidnapping attempt. Breitner, meanwhile, openly decided to boycott the tournament in protest at the human rights abuses of the military junta ruling Argentina.
Breitner had scored the winning goal in the 1974 World Cup final, but became the only player to officially boycott the 1978 edition for this reason. He thus sacrificed participation in football’s leading international tournament, expressing his rejection of the Argentine military authorities’ human rights record. In Britain, Irish player James McClean became associated with stances that prompted repeated media attacks.
McClean rejects symbol commemorating war dead
He regularly refused to wear the poppy emblem used to honour war dead, basing his position on growing up in the city of Derry, where British soldiers opened fire on unarmed civilians in the Bloody Sunday massacre.
McClean continued to express his position during a friendly played by his former club West Bromwich Albion in the United States in 2015, turning his back while the British national anthem, ‘God Save the Queen’, was played. This exposed him to fierce media criticism, but he remained committed to choices linked to his city’s memory and historical experience.
Harsh punishment for Iranian player Azadani
Iranian defender Amir Nasr-Azadani, who previously played in the professional league, is serving a 26-year prison sentence for taking part in the popular protests that erupted after the death of young woman Mahsa Amini. His case is one of the starkest examples of the price paid by a footballer for a position linked to freedoms and women’s rights.
The International Professional Footballers’ Association, FIFPRO, issued a statement saying it was ‘shocked and disgusted’ by reports that Azadani could be executed simply for defending women’s rights and basic freedoms. The union declared its full solidarity with the Iranian player and called for his sentence to be cancelled immediately.
Boateng stops match over racist chants
In confronting racism in stadiums, Ghanaian Kevin-Prince Boateng took a notable stand in 2013 while playing for Italian club AC Milan. During a match against Pro Patria, he was subjected to sustained racist chants from opposing supporters, so he stopped play, picked up the ball, kicked it forcefully towards the stands and left the pitch.
Milan captain Massimo Ambrosini and Boateng’s other team-mates backed him, following him to the dressing room, and the match was eventually officially abandoned. The Ghanaian player later commented on his account that it was sad that such behaviour continued and called for racism to be stopped forever.
Protesting stances were not limited to national and racial issues. Former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler used his team’s match against Norway’s Brann in the 1997 European Cup Winners’ Cup to show his support for 500 Liverpool dockers who had been unfairly dismissed after a labour strike lasting more than two years.
The match was halted after fourth official Sebastian Colțescu was accused of using a racist expression against Pierre Webó, the Turkish team’s assistant manager. Başakşehir’s players left the pitch in protest before Paris Saint-Germain’s players joined them and left in solidarity with their opponents.
Piara Powar, executive director of the organisation Football Against Racism, described the scene as entirely new, stressing that players walking out in support of their opponents in the world’s biggest club competition sent a message whose importance could not be understated.
One of the earliest such stances dates back to the Soviet Union, which had one of the strongest football generations during the 1960s and 1970s but gave up the chance to qualify for the 1974 World Cup by refusing to travel to face Chile in the second leg of the World Cup play-off.
The decision was taken two weeks after the military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet, after Santiago’s National Stadium had been turned into a detention centre and a place where left-wing opponents were executed. The Soviets called for the match to be moved to neutral ground, but FIFA rejected the request, prompting them to announce a boycott. The match was staged as a formality, with Chile scoring into an empty net to end the fixture.
