New Zealand CEO backs players leaving over racist comments

The New Zealand soccer team decided to abandon their friendly game in Austria against Qatar after the first half when Qatari player Yousuf Abdurisag made a racist comment towards New Zealand defender Michael Boxall.

New Zealand was winning 1-0 at the time and Qatar had been given a free kick. There was a scuffle between the two teams in the 40th minute and it was New Zealand’s captain Joe Bell who told the referee Manuel Schuttengruber about the racist comment. Schuttengruber shook his head and did nothing about the comment. And so, the players refused to come back in the second half.

The New Zealand Professional Footballers’ Association (NZPFA) along with New Zealand CEO Andrew Pragnell expressed their support for the players and their decision not to continue the game.

“It’s a statement that’s going to resonate around the world in terms of global football, and I’m really proud of them,” said Pragnell. “We never want to see a match abandoned but some issues are bigger than football and it is important to make a stand.”

Though the referees and Qatar’s coach Carlos Queiroz said they heard nothing, Pragnell said it “was a significant racial slur” directed at Boxall, who is of Samoan descent.

Racism continues to overwhelm the soccer world

Unfortunately, this incident was one of two that happened in Austria on Monday, as Ireland’s football association had a similar issue with their under-21 team. They abandoned the game against Kuwait’s Olympic side after a player made a racist remark to an Irish substitute. Even more unfortunate is that this has been a huge issue in soccer for some time now and has been overwhelming the sport as of late.

“[Soccer] has got a problem globally,” said Pragnell. “In professional football and international football around the world. And we need to confront racism. People have been trying to make steps to make change, but it’s not fast enough, and the fact it’s still happening is a problem.”

“I think our team decided enough is enough,” Pragnell continued. “It was loud and clear to multiple people, this shouldn’t be going on, and football should not continue in this light.”

“I think when someone receives significant racial abuse, multiple people hear it, there are 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.”