Two grassroots protest campaigns are currently challenging the deep complicity of Irish sporting institutions in normalising the Israeli state’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. The Allianz Amach or Drop Allianz campaign, rooted in Cumann Luthchleas Gael (GAA), and the Stop The Game campaign, targeting the Football Association of Ireland, represent vital and courageous fronts in the broader struggle against imperialism, corporate profiteering, and joint US and Zionist terrorism. Both initiatives deserve the full and active solidarity of the Irish labour and trade union movement.
Driven by grassroots groups such as ‘Gaels Against Genocide’ and ‘Our Clubs Our Voice’, alongside high-profile GAA figures, the Allianz Amach campaign demands that the GAA terminate its sponsorship deal with Allianz, which runs until 2030. The campaign is a direct application of the BDS strategy, targeting a corporation profiting from genocide. The insurance giant was named in a June 2025 UN report as holding over $7.3 billion in shares and bonds implicated in the Israeli occupation. A subsidiary was found complicit in genocide through its purchase of Israeli government bonds. Over 800 current and former inter-county players signed an open letter calling on the GAA to act. Clubs and county boards across the 32 counties have passed motions. Protests have erupted outside Croke Park and at league and championship matches, with Allianz branding removed at several fixtures. Tír Eoghain GAA has been to the forefront in removing Allianz branding from pitch sides and refusing to sell GAA match programmes or be interviewed in front of Allianz signage. At February’s Congress, protesters breached security, demanding an end to “Allianz blood money”. Yet the GAA leadership refuses to terminate the deal, citing legal obligations and claiming Allianz plc has “no direct link” with the IDF—conveniently ignoring that a subsidiary of the same corporate family was found complicit. This legalistic hair-splitting prioritises corporate revenue over moral principle.
In the Irish soccer arena, Stop The Game, launched by Irish Sport for Palestine, has taken the fight to the courts, issuing a pre-action letter for judicial review against the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), Sport Ireland, and the Ministers for Sport and Justice. It challenges their “collective failure” to designate the Irish men’s Nations League fixtures against Israel—slated for September and October 2026—as unlawful and to stop them. It asserts the FAI must ensure public spending complies with human rights, and the Minister for Justice must investigate and refuse entry to any Israeli delegation member who may have committed Geneva Convention offences. Sustained pressure forced significant concessions: the October fixture moved to a neutral venue in Serbia behind closed doors, and the away fixture to Hungary. However, the FAI insists on proceeding, citing forfeited points and damaged Euro 2028 prospects. The Palestine Football Association explicitly clarified it did not endorse this decision. The FAI’s excuses reveal an institution more concerned with rankings than with human life.
From a Marxist perspective, both these campaigns must be understood as integral parts of the broader struggle against imperialism and the capitalist logic that places profit above human life. The Israeli state is not a rogue actor operating in isolation; it is the forward operating base of imperialism in West Asia, sustained and armed by the very powers that now pretend to seek peace. Allianz is not an innocent bystander; it is a corporation that invests vast sums in the Israeli war economy, generating returns from occupation and genocide. The GAA’s continued partnership makes the Association a willing participant in the normalisation of genocide. As Marx wrote, capital is indifferent to the morality of its investments; it seeks only profit. The sporting bureaucrats of the GAA and FAI mirror this logic, sacrificing justice for financial convenience and diplomatic cover.
Victory has not yet been achieved, but the activists behind Allianz Amach and Stop The Game—from grassroots club members to legal teams—deserve immense praise for their courage, determination, creativity, and principled organising. They have forced these sporting institutions to publicly defend the indefensible. The GAA remains in partnership with Allianz. The FAI intends to play Israel. The government has not intervened. The Irish labour and trade union movement must mobilise: pass motions of solidarity, attend protests, and demand state intervention. The financial arguments of the sporting bodies are a smokescreen for moral cowardice. As Stop The Game has made clear, any sanctions or fines for boycotting Israel can be fundraised by those in support of the boycott. The struggle must continue until the GAA severs ties with Allianz, the FAI cancels the fixtures, and Ireland aligns itself with international justice and solidarity rather than genocide and war-profiteering. These campaigns are a vital front in the anti-imperialist struggle. They must be supported, sustained, and ultimately victorious.
