Qatar and Kuwait deny racism allegations leading to abandonment of friendlies

Both the Qatar and Kuwait football associations have denied claims of racism during their friendly matches against New Zealand and Ireland respectively.

New Zealand’s football team abandoned a friendly match against Qatar - played in Austria - at half-time after accusing Qatari player Yusuf Abdurisag of making a racist remark against defender Michael Boxall, who is of Samoan heritage.

Abdurisag, who is of African descent, denied the allegation and said he was instead on the receiving end of racist remarks during the game.