The Israel Football Association has declined to comment on an allegation that an Israeli player spat at a member of the Republic of Ireland's backroom team during Sunday's Nations League match in Serbia.
Ireland head of athletic performance Damien Doyle is understood to have alleged that he was spat at by an Israeli player as both teams made their way from the pitch at half-time during the 1-1 draw in Backa Topola.
Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson did not comment on the incident immediately after the game, indicating that it could be considered by a disciplinary body.
Speaking separately to Off the Ball, Hallgrímsson confirmed that an allegation had been made but said he had not witnessed what happened.
The Ireland manager said the match had been played in a highly charged atmosphere from the outset.
“I felt like they were trying to intimidate us from kick-off, so I give a lot of credit to the players to keep calm, it could have been a game of yellow and red cards,” he said.
Israel head coach Ran Ben-Shimon also said he had not seen the alleged incident, explaining that he had already entered the dressing room.
Asked about the allegation, an Israel FA press officer said: “No comment. I didn’t see anything, so I can’t comment on that.”
Ireland went into the interval ahead after Troy Parrott converted a penalty, but Israel levelled two minutes into the second half through captain Dor Peretz.
Israel came close to winning the game, hitting the post twice during the second half. Ben-Shimon believed his side had done enough to claim all three points.
“We showed we are a good team, we deserved to win tonight,” he said.
The Israel manager pointed to his team's threat on the counter-attack while acknowledging the difficulty of defending Ireland's set pieces.
“We were very dangerous in the counter attack. Of course it was very difficult for us to deal with the set pieces against Ireland, but otherwise we were better on the pitch. This is my opinion.”
Ben-Shimon was also pleased with the way his players handled the emotional pressure surrounding the fixture, particularly after Israel's 3-0 defeat to Ireland in last week's meeting in Debrecen.
He said his team had struggled to maintain their composure in that game but had taken steps to ensure they approached Sunday's match differently.
“The situation in sport is that sometimes you lose games, and sometimes in these games, we lose ourselves,” he said.
“In the first game, it wasn’t us, we didn’t react well. But for us, it is a long history. We came to the game today with a balanced approach between emotion and tactical thinking.”
He added: “We showed specifically in the second half that we are a very good national team.”
Asked directly whether Israel had lacked that balance in the previous encounter, Ben-Shimon replied that he was certain they had.
“We tried our best to isolate our national team from the noise. We made a good job of coming to this game much more ready and much more balanced with the right approach. I am very proud of my players.”
Ben-Shimon also rejected the suggestion that Molumby had been deliberately targeted by Israeli players during the match.
The Ireland midfielder had reported alleged racist chanting by Israeli supporters to the referee during last week's match in Debrecen. He was fouled several times in Sunday's game, including during the challenge that resulted in Ireland's penalty.
Ben-Shimon insisted there was no personal motive behind the challenges involving Molumby.
“From the last game, one of our conclusions was that we became very soft and were not aggressive enough,” he said.
“There is nothing personal against Molumby, we tried to win all the battles and the 50-50 balls, and I think we did good in this game.”
He added: “Come on, we just don’t do it [target players]. We are not men like this.”
The build-up to the match had been marked by tensions at media events involving both teams.
Before Sunday's post-match press conference, a UEFA official read a disclaimer stating that journalists were permitted to ask questions about the match but not separate political issues.
The measure followed disruption at Ireland's press conference on Saturday, when an Israeli journalist made an allegation of racism against Irish players. The claim was rejected by an FAI press officer as “a lie”.
Two Israeli media representatives were subsequently excluded by UEFA from the post-match press conference after asking Hallgrímsson questions relating to political issues rather than the game.
The latest alleged incident involving Doyle could now be considered by the relevant disciplinary authorities if a formal complaint is made.
