Alkass Digital
Qatar coach Carlos Queiroz was left “surprised” after New Zealand abandoned their friendly against his side, claiming their player was racially abused by an Al Annabi player on Monday.
The All Whites refused to take the field in the second half at Sonnensee Stadion in Ritzing, Austria after taking a 1-0 lead in the first half through a 17th minute goal by midfielder Marko Stamenic.
“During the half-time, surprisingly, the captain of New Zealand team came to us saying that the New Zealand players have decided not to get back to the game,” Queiroz told Al Kass.
He added: “The facts are the following. Apparently two players on the pitch exchanged words. The New Zealand players decided to support their team-mate. All our team decided to support our player. The staff of New Zealand also support the statement of the New Zealand player. We support our player and they decided to abandon the game with no witnesses,” he added.
"The referee did not (hear the exchange), the benches, coaches nobody (heard). Just an argument between two players," the veteran coach said hoping FIFA would investigate the matter.
"This is the new chapter in football, something that nobody can understand. Let's allow the football authorities to take a decision about what happened. I think this case will be under the observation of FIFA, for sure, because I ask the coach, the referees... nobody (heard anything)," said Queiroz.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand football federation tweeted: “Michael Boxall was racially abused during the first half of the game by a Qatari player. No official action was taken so the team have agreed not to come out for the second half of the match."
Monday’s game was Qatar’s third and final friendly during their training camp in Austria. The team will fly to the United States today to take part at the CONCACAF Gold Cup starting on June 25.