Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson was torn between respecting the right of fans to protest the visit of Israel to the Aviva Stadium for a Nations League match on October 4th and the disruption it caused during Ireland’s 1-0 win over Qatar.“Everybody has a right to protest,” said Hallgrímsson after Thursday’s friendly at the Aviva. “It just kills a game. If they want to destroy the game for us then, so be it. Obviously it’s not fun to see, especially for us, who are trying to think about the football side.”[ Debutant Jaden Umeh gives life to Ireland in humdrum Qatar friendlyOpens in new window ]There were three incidents, in the 10th, 20th and 30th minutes when fans on the west upper tier of the stadium flung tennis balls, branded with ‘Stop the Game’, on to the pitch in protest over the FAI’s decision to fulfil the fixture against Israel.“It didn’t bother me much,” he continued. “We might have liked the protest in the second half when we would have liked to kill the game. Everybody has a right to protest, but thinking about the football side, it is not fun to watch a game that needs to be stopped again and again.”International Friendly, Aviva Stadium, Dublin 28/5/2026