The Qatar FA has said Yusuf Abdurisag did not use discriminatory language against a player from the New Zealand team, who abandoned their friendly at half-time on Monday in protest at an alleged racist slur.
Qatar‘s soccer governing body said on Tuesday that Abdurisag had an exchange of words “in the heat of the moment” where he was the victim of racial slurs.
New Zealand said on Monday that their defender Michael Boxall, who is of Samoan heritage, had received a “significant racist slur” from an opponent during the Gold Cup warmup match in Austria.
“In any case, the QFA takes the allegations incredibly seriously and stands against racism in all its forms,” QFA added in a statement. “The experience of racism should never be trivialised and remains a serious problem within the game.
“The QFA encourages the international football community to do more to tackle racism and discrimination on and off the pitch.”
