New Zealand cancels the Qatar match due to racism

The New Zealand soccer team abandoned a friendly match against Qatar on Monday 19 June in Vienna at halftime, accusing its opponent of throwing a racial insult at one of the team’s players.

“Michael Boxall was the victim of a racist insult in the first half by a Qatari player”And chirp The New Zealand Federation justifies the fact that its players did not return to the grass after half-time. The referee did not respond, so the team chose not to return to play the second half of the match. »

Portuguese-Qatari coach Carlos Queiroz spoke about his role in English to the microphone of the Qatari Cup channel. “To our surprise, the New Zealand captain came to us to tell us that his team would not restart.”He said.

Another match stopped due to racism

“Apparently two players exchanged words on the pitch. Who started and who answered? Only they know. (…) There are no witnesses, the referee hears nothing, and neither do the benches. It’s just an argument between two players.”Follow the coach. Now let the football authorities decide. (…) But without a witness, I don’t know how FIFA will be able to make a decision.”Keyrouz added. New Zealand led 1-0 in the second half.

On the same Monday, a friendly match between Ireland U21s and Kuwait U22s, also being played in Austria, was ruled out for good after the Irish called out racial slurs against one of their substitutes. The Irish FA announced that it would take over FIFA. The Irish led 3-0 at the time of the break, into the second period.