The Ireland women's basketball team is currently waiting on a commissioner report before the FIBA (The International Basketball Federation) decide to whether or not to take disciplinary action in the wake of Ireland's EuroBasket 2025 Qualifier against Israel on Thursday.

The report is being issued after the Irish women's team refused to shake hands with their Israeli opponents before their EuroBasket 2025 qualifier in Riga Latvia.

The Irish players also lined up for their anthem beside the team's bench rather than the centre of the court before the game, which Israel won 87-57.

Israeli player Dor Sa'ar accused the Irish team of "anti-Semitism".

Basketball Ireland has since described these comments as "inflammatory and wholly inaccurate".

In a statement on X issued before the match, Basketball Ireland said that the Irish team would not be partaking in the traditional pre-match arrangements.

The organisation concluded their statement saying that they "fully support our players in their decision".

Statement ahead of today's FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025 Qualifier. pic.twitter.com/iz6s88febf

— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) February 8, 2024

The game was played after a tense and controversial build-up with Israeli coach Sharon Drucker saying that the  Irish "did not respect" what sport symbolises.

This comment came shortly after Drucker and the Israeli players had posed for pictures with armed IDF soldiers at the weekend.

The game was initially supposed to be played last November, but was postponed due to security concerns caused by the ongoing conflict in the region. Basketball Ireland requested the game take place at a neutral venue, which ultimately was decided to be Riga Latvia.

The match went ahead despite Basketball Ireland facing pressure to boycott the fixture after Irish Sport for Palestine had called for the boycott over the Israel-Gaza war.

Earlier in the week, Basketball Ireland chief executive John Feehan said the Irish team would face heavy fines and expulsion from the competition if the team boycotted their fixtures with Israel. He suggested a boycott would "destroy our women's international game for the next 10 years".

Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Executive Director Europe of FIBA, Kamil Novak was asked about Israel's decision to have a team photo taken with armed forces.

"I would not like to go into politics," he said. "We are not a political organisation, we are a sporting organisation. In terms of the photos, there were some let's say events before the game which we are aware of.

"The photographs with the machine guns, this is certainly something that can be questioned".

He continued saying: "On the other hand, we had the EuroBasket Women 2023 in Israel. I'm talking about June 2023 so way before all the incidents which happened later in Israel. Even during this championship we saw some girls with machine guns because they are in Israel, the girls too have to serve and do military service."

It is estimated that 1,300 people were killed during the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October last year, while about 240 people were taken hostage.

More than 27,700 Palestinians have been killed and at least 65,000 injured by the war launched by Israel since then, according to Al Jazeera.