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UEFA has fined the Football Association of Ireland after its senior women’s team sang a pro-IRA song after their World Cup play-off win over Scotland. A clip emerged on social media which showed players singing the song in support of the paramilitary Irish Republican Army (IRA) as they celebrated a 1-0 victory over Scotland at Glasgow’s Hamden Park in October singing ‘Ooh ah, up the RA’.
The play-off victory qualified the Republic for their first appearance at a Women’s World Cup. UEFA on Thursday said its control, ethics and disciplinary body (CEDB) has fined the FAI 20,000 euros (17,211 pounds) over an incident it labelled a ‘violation of the basic rules of decent conduct’.
Speaking in October, Ireland manager Vera Pauw admitted that the incident ‘cast a shadow’ over their achievement of qualifying for their first Women’s World Cup. “We have done a thing that hurt people. It's no excuse that we are celebrating. Our key value is that we respect people, so I truly apologise. It’s not because it got put on social media because, if it hadn’t been put on social media, it’s still wrong. We should not have done it and we will never do it again,” Pauw told Sky Sports News.
The FAI run soccer affairs in the southern Republic of Ireland, while the Irish Football Association is the governing body for the game in the British-controlled province of Northern Ireland. The IRA was behind a decades long campaign of violence in the opposition to British rule in Northern Ireland before the conflict came to an end with a 1998 peace deal.
Ireland have been drawn against Australia, Canada, and Nigeria in the group phase of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, and they will kick start the tournament against co-hosts Australia on July 20, 2023.