Gaelic Football Season Opens With Contested Gaza Protest Scoop

Was the biggest sports story in Ireland this week fake? Or just early?

The National League hurling and football seasons kick off this weekend, ending several months of Gaelic sports famine. On Monday, the government-owned broadcast network and news service RTE ran a blockbuster piece about a pro-Palestinian protest by players on Dublin’s squads. According to the article, written by RTE’s Niall McCoy and labeled as “Exclusive,” members of the Dublin sides decided “to refuse to appear in front of Allianz-branded signage” this season because of the insurer’s business dealings in Israel since the Gaza invasion. The RTE story inspired other Irish athletes to chime in with support, generated related protests, and overwhelmed all other opening weekend news. Then, the story got refuted.

Allianz, a German-based insurance giant, has been the leagues’ title sponsor since 1993. So avoiding the company’s logos on game broadcasts is no simple chore, and would at the very least mean the protesting players would be declining man-of-the-match interviews and award ceremonies. That would complicate matters for RTE, which has domestic broadcast rights for the All-Ireland and National League football and hurling competitions, which are not only the biggest annual athletic events but are part of the island nation’s identity and history in ways that few sports are tied to any other country.