Racism in football: New Zealand, Ireland teams abandon games following offensive comments

By Online Desk

New Zealand and the Ireland Under-21 team both refused to continue playing after alleging players heard racially offensive comments from opponents Qatar and Kuwait, The Washington Post reports.

According to the report, New Zealand abandoned its game against Qatar at halftime in Austria after accusing a Qatari player of making a racist comment to defender Michael Boxall, who is of Samoan heritage.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, 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 Irish soccer federation said its Under-21 team’s game against the Kuwait Olympic team was stopped “after a racist remark was made by a Kuwaiti player towards one of our substitutes.”

“The (federation) does not tolerate any racism towards any of our players or staff and will be reporting this serious matter to FIFA and UEFA,” the Irish soccer body said on its Twitter account.

The incidents came days after Infantino restated FIFA’s determination to tackle racism and discrimination after he visited Brazil star Vinícius Júnior at a training camp in Spain, The Washington Post report said.

Vinícius, who is Black, has been the target of sustained racist abuse by fans in Spanish stadiums throughout the season while playing for Real Madrid, with little done by referees or soccer organizers to protect him.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino, according to the report, had said last week: “There is no football if there is racism! So let’s stop the games.”

<br /> New Zealand and the Ireland Under-21 team both refused to continue playing after alleging players heard racially offensive comments from opponents Qatar and Kuwait, The Washington Post reports.</p> <p>According to the report, New Zealand abandoned its game against Qatar at halftime in Austria after accusing a Qatari player of making a racist comment to defender Michael Boxall, who is of Samoan heritage.</p> <p>In a statement issued on Tuesday, 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. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1687167573941-0’); });</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>The Irish soccer federation said its Under-21 team’s game against the Kuwait Olympic team was stopped “after a racist remark was made by a Kuwaiti player towards one of our substitutes.”</p> <p>“The (federation) does not tolerate any racism towards any of our players or staff and will be reporting this serious matter to FIFA and UEFA,” the Irish soccer body said on its Twitter account.</p> <p>The incidents came days after Infantino restated FIFA’s determination to tackle racism and discrimination after he visited Brazil star Vinícius Júnior at a training camp in Spain, The Washington Post report said.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>Vinícius, who is Black, has been the target of sustained racist abuse by fans in Spanish stadiums throughout the season while playing for Real Madrid, with little done by referees or soccer organizers to protect him.</p> <p>FIFA president Gianni Infantino, according to the report, had said last week: “There is no football if there is racism! So let’s stop the games.”<br />