New Zealand to raise racism concerns with FIFA after abandoning Qatar match following alleged racist slur

New Zealand Football (NZF) plan to contact FIFA about protecting players from racism after abandoning a friendly against Qatar at half-time following an alleged racial slur. The NZF said a Qatari player directed a “racist slur” at Michael Boxall, who has Samoan heritage, and it was “heard by several New Zealand players”. Ad The incident occurred just before half-time and referee Manuel Schuttengruber was seen having a discussion with New Zealand captain Joe Bell.

World CupGakpo scores for third game in a row as Netherlands beat Qatar to top group29/11/2022 AT 14:08 Schuttengruber then blew for half-time and New Zealand agreed at the break to not play the rest of the game. “No official action was taken so the team have agreed not to come out for the second half of the match," NZF said on social media. NZF CEO Andrew Pragnell said the governing body fully supported the players’ decision.

“We never want to see a match abandoned but some issues are bigger than football and it is important to make a stand," he said. “There is no room for racism in football.” Pragnell later added: “I think when someone receives significant racial abuse, multiple people hear it, there’s multiple witnesses to something like that and nothing can be done then we’ve got a bigger problem and maybe it’s time we look at the rules. “Certainly we want to reach out to FIFA on this.

You know they have recently established a task force around racism; more needs to be done to protect players from racial attacks on the field. “There’s been some evolution; we don’t think it’s moving fast enough so we want to contribute to that.” Qatar head coach Carlos Queiroz said his squad stood by their player. «Apparently two players exchanged words, and we don't know who