FAI Refunds Season Ticket Holders for Closed-Door Matches

The FAI will refund season ticket holders after confirming that Ireland’s upcoming “home” Nations League tie against Israel will be played behind closed doors in Serbia.

Supporters who bought season tickets are being offered either an account credit or a straight cash refund for the value of that single fixture, calculated as roughly one fifth of the overall season ticket price. All season ticket holders will also receive loyalty points, despite being unable to attend the match.

Ireland’s 2026-27 Nations League campaign opens away to Kosovo in Pristina on 24 September, but the football has been pushed into the background. The real noise surrounds the back-to-back games against Israel on 27 September and 1 October, both stripped of home advantage and shifted to neutral territory in Hungary and Serbia.

Those fixtures have become a lightning rod. The FAI has come under sustained pressure from the “Stop the Game” campaign, which has called for a boycott in response to the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The association has held its line.

Last month, a motion to proceed with the games was passed by FAI members with a 68% majority. The FAI framed the decision around the consequences of withdrawal, pointing to “the profound impact that non-fulfilment of UEFA fixtures would have on Irish football as a whole and its future development.”

So the matches go ahead, the stands stay empty, and season ticket holders watch from afar — refunded, but very much part of a debate that is nowhere near finished.