A friendly match between Qatar and New Zealand was canceled due to racism

The friendly match between Qatar and New Zealand did not resume on Monday evening in Austria after the end of the first half (New Zealand advanced 1-0). The Kiwi crew and all the players decided not to return to the field.

According to them, defender Michael Boxall (34 years old, Minnesota United) was a victim of racism from one of the opponent’s players, and the referee did not take any action against him. In the 40th minute, Qatar player Youssef Abdul Razzaq appeared to address Boxall before a direct free kick, drawing the New Zealanders into a rage.

The Qatari-Portuguese coach, Carlos Queiroz, spoke on the microphone of the Qatari Al-Kass channel. To our surprise, the New Zealand captain came to us to tell us that his team would not restart the match. The facts are as follows: Two players exchanged words on the pitch. Who spoke first? Between them. The New Zealand players decided to support their partner, and of course we support our player. They chose to abandon the match without witnesses to this story. The referee didn’t hear anything and neither did the benches. Now let FIFA decide, but I asked the opponent coach, the referees, no one heard anything. So I don’t know how FIFA will be able to make a decision without witnesses. The fact is that we are playing a friendly match and the team abandons it. »