"Loud and clear": New Zealand international refutes racism counter-claim from Qatar FA
New Zealand's game with Qatar was abandoned earlier this week following allegations that Yusuf Abdurisag racially abused All Whites defender Michael Boxall.
A New Zealand player at the centre of the racism incident during the All Whites abandoned fixture with Qatar has rubbished the opponent’s FA’s counter-claims regarding the flashpoint.
New Zealand refused to play the second half of their fixture in Ritzinger, Austria on Tuesday (NZT) after alleging a racial slur was used against All Whites centre-back Michael Boxall.
But the Qatar Football Association has suggested the opposite, that their player, Yusuf Abdurisag, was the victim of racially aggravated comments. This idea has been refuted by New Zealand Football and a member of the playing squad.
In the 40th minute of the international friendly, with New Zealand leading 1-0 through a Marko Stamenic strike, Qatar’s Abdurisag took a theatric tumble after running into All Whites captain Joe Bell. Boxall, with his usual steely calm, then invited the Qatari forward to get up, suggesting he had gone to ground easily. Suddenly, the mood changed, as the incident happens, out of sight and earshot of the cameras and mics in the near-empty Sonnenseestadion.
“He can’t say that,” exclaimed New Zealand striker Max Mata. “Ref, did you hear that?”.
Boxall’s defensive partner Bill Tuiloma was apoplectic. He and Liberato Cacace began a shoving match with their opponents. Others, like Bell and midfielder Matt Garbett, were left dumbfounded, shocked at what they heard and dismayed at the referee’s apparent inaction.
A “significant racial slur”, according to NZF CEO Andrew Pragnell, is what they all heard. Not just one or two either, several members of the All Whites squad heard what was said. The referee, Manuel Schüttengruber, however, didn’t.
Therefore, at half-time, New Zealand made the unprecedented stand of refusing to play the second half - the first time a senior FIFA international has been abandoned for such a reason.
New Zealand Football has come out in full support of the decision and its players. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Qatari FA has now replied in kind.
But this statement has drawn ire from one All White, who Two Halves have agreed to keep anonymous, who was on the pitch at the time.
While stopping short of revealing the slur, he makes it clear it was not just the New Zealand players who heard it, but some of Abdurisag’s teammates as well.
“The Qatari players took defence quickly for their teammate and were extremely apologetic in the moment as they heard loud and clear what was said,” he confirms.
“It was bang out of order and there is no room for racism in football,” he also states, while sharing a message from the wider playing squad.
“We stand together as a group and we appreciate the support we have received from our people.”
That stance has been publicly backed up by NZF.
"The footage of the game clearly shows several of our players responding in unison to something offensive being said and the racial slur was heard widely by a number of players on the field,” they said in a statement to 1News today.
"Rather than New Zealand Football or the Qatar Football Association commenting further, we have referred this matter to FIFA to investigate due to the seriousness of its nature."
The incident is another blow to FIFA’s apparent strong stance on racism. It happened on the same day as the Republic of Ireland U-21s walked out of their game against Kuwait’s Olympic side in similar circumstances.
This comes in the wake of Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior being racially abused in a La Liga clash with Valencia. The Brazilian was sent off for his reaction to the incident. FIFA supremo Gianni Infantino announced the forward will lead a new anti-racism committee last week while his national side wore all-black kits in solidarity with their teammate in a recent international friendly v Guinea.
The incident now rests with FIFA. If Abdurisag is found to have racially abused Boxall he will face a minimum ban of 10 FIFA-affiliated matches while New Zealand players, including the Minnesota United defender, could be asked to make victim statements as part of new disciplinary proceedings enacted in 2019. The same applies if the QFA’s claim about alleged racism, which has been discredited by multiple sources, does prove to have weight.
Boxall said it was not "specifically a racial slur," and "I’m sure it’s a slur he uses colloquially every day"... So Boxall took offense to a crude and offensive swear word, as was his right. But for the media the racism narrative would get more clicks right?