Sinn Féin spokesperson on sport Joanna Byrne TD has called for the immediate release of Palestinian footballer Natalie Abudayyeh, who has been detained by Israel for four months without charge.

Abudayyeh was a member of the Palestine women's football team that travelled to Dublin in May 2024 to play Bohemians in an international solidarity friendly at Dalymount Park.

Byrne said that Israel's continued internment of Palestinian civilians such as Abudayyeh is a reason why the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) should not proceed with Ireland's upcoming Nations League games against Israel.

She said that the FAI must find the courage not to play Israel, and that the majority of Irish people would find it unconscionable for Ireland to be complicit in sportswashing.

Byrne said that Abudayyeh's family and teammates deny she was politically active or motivated, and that she was focused on her family, studies, and football.

She said the Israelis have not provided details on what her alleged role was, and that she is being denied a fair judicial process.

Byrne contrasted the solidarity shown when Abudayyeh played in Dublin with her current situation in prison, denied the right to speak to her family and paraded before a military court with no jury.

The FAI has not commented on whether it will proceed with the Nations League fixtures against Israel.