Liam Scales shows his class with 'support' for Ireland teammate over Israel boycott

Celtic star Liam Scales is the sort of teammate we thought he was. Scales is part of the Ireland squad that has been dealing with a major controversy over the last week or so.

Ireland played Israel on Sunday night, winning 3-0 in Hungary, with the game having to be played at a neutral venue that also saw Ireland receive no formal away supporter allocation.

But the game was very nearly not played, with Ireland players having held discussions over a possible boycott. In the end, only goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu sat out the game, and his decisions did not go down well with everyone.

The Ireland players were said to have been hoping to reach a solution where every player was in agreement, but Bazunu was the sole holdout, and the game was ultimately played without him.

Of course, the context of all of this is Israel's genocide of Palestine, as defined by the UN, and many feel as though the nation should be banned from competing, similar to how Russia have been banned amid the nation's conflict with Ukraine. Every conflict is different, of course, but there are clear inconsistencies in how such bans are handed out.

But Israel has been allowed to compete, and now only was the first game played at a neutral site, but Ireland has to play their home game with Israel in Serbia and behind closed doors next week due to security concerns due to the majority of Irish fans being firmly against the genocide and Israel's participation in the Nations League.

According to 42.ie, only four players showed support as 'tempers rose' during discussions between players over whether they would play the fixture, and that group included Scales, Troy Parrot and Jack Moylan, and the latter two went on to score in the game. Scales did not make it off the bench, but there is no suggestion that had anything to do with his support, given the other two started.

It's a pleasing thing to see from a Celtic point of view. It's important players are respected for making such decisions, even if not everyone agrees. Scales clearly didn't feel as though it was the best thing for him to do, to sit out the game, but that doesn't mean he cannot show respect to Bazunu, and it was classy of him to show his support.

Ireland say they 'raised awareness' for the situation in Gaza by refusing to shake hands with Israeli players before the game, while they also refused to exchange pennants and bowed their heads during the Israel anthem.

Naturally, it's important to highlight that the genocide is being carried out by the Israeli government and not its people, but the football team also represents the government, and captain Manor Solomon has repeatedly expressed his support for the war on social media during the conflict.