New Zealand abandons Qatar friendly at halftime over alleged racist comment
The Hindu
New Zealand abandoned its football friendly against Qatar at halftime after accusing a Qatari player of making a racist comment to defender Michael Boxall.
New Zealand abandoned its football friendly against Qatar at halftime in Austria on June 19 after accusing a Qatari player of making a racist comment to defender Michael Boxall.
In a statement issued on June 20, Football New Zealand said the team refused to play the second half when the referee declined to take action.
New Zealand was leading 1-0 in Ritzing.
The incident happened after Qatar was awarded a free kick. The New Zealanders complained Qatar’s Yousuf Abdurisag made a racist comment to Boxall, who is of Samoan heritage.
After a melee between the teams in the 40th minute, New Zealand captain Joe Bell complained to referee Manuel Schuttengruber, who shook his head, indicating he would not take action against the Qatar player.
“We fully support the action of our players, who agreed collectively this course of action," New Zealand Football CEO Andrew Pragnell said in a statement. “We never want to see a match abandoned but some issues are bigger than football and it is important to make a stand.”
Qatar coach Carlos Queiroz said on the television broadcast of the match that he had not heard the comment.
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