Racism in football: New Zealand denounced insults and refused to play in the second half

After Michael Boxall accused racist insults by a Qatari rival and the referee did not take action in this regard, the New Zealand team refused to go out on the field in the second half, so the match had to be suspended. One of the most serious problems facing football today is racism, deeply rooted in certain fans and footballers. In recent months, with the public case of Vinicius Junior, the problem returned to be part of an international debate, and in a recent friendly against Guinea, the Brazilian team jumped onto the pitch with a black shirt in support of the Real Madrid star.However, racism reappeared as the protagonist this afternoon in a match between the New Zealand National Team and Qatar in Austria, when the All Whites beat their rivals 1-0. As they could capture the images of the television, near the minute 40 and before a free kick, a Qatari footballer approached and spoke with Boxall.Al the end of the first half, the oceanic delegation informed the referee that the defender had received racist insults from the rival, and before the decision of the authorities to continue the game, The New Zealand team refused to take the field in the second half.” Michael Boxall was subjected to racist insults during the first half of the match by a Qatari player. No official action was taken, so the team has agreed not to go out in the second half of the match,” New Zealand’s official account said. Also, the coach of the Qatar National Team, Carlos Queiroz, told a local media that “the captain of New Zealand approached the bench to tell us that they were not going to play the second half for a series of racist insults towards a player, we did not notice anything inappropriate. ” For its part, the Qatar Football Association did not comment on the incident and limited itself to expressing on its social networks that “New Zealand has withdrawn from the friendly against our national team that was played today in Austria.”

Original source in Spanish