A friendly match between the football teams of New Zealand and Qatar in Austria has been halted after the New Zealand players said one of them had been racially abused by an opponent. The New Zealanders then decided not to continue playing after the break.
“Michael Boxall was racially abused in the first half of the match by a Qatar player. No official sanction was imposed, so the team has decided not to appear for the second half,” the New Zealand Football Association said on Twitter. New Zealand led the game 1–0 at half time.
Qatar national coach Carlos Queiroz said the New Zealand captain had come to him to say they would not continue playing. “Apparently two players on the field said things to each other,” Queiroz told Qatar’s sports channel Alkass. “The New Zealand players decided to support their teammate, all of our players supported their teammate.”
Queiroz expects the FIFA football association to investigate the incident. “The referee didn’t hear, the bench, the coaches, nobody heard. It was an exchange between two players.”
The exhibition match between the Ireland under-21 team and Kuwait’s peers also ended prematurely due to an alleged racism incident. A Kuwait player allegedly berated one of Ireland’s reserves in the second half, after which the Irish called it quits. “The FAI will not tolerate racism against our players or staff and will report this to FIFA and UEFA,” the Irish federation FAI said.
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