Republic of Ireland Under-21s boss Jim Crawford has backed his players for walking off after one of their team-mates was allegedly racially abused.
The Football Association of Ireland has reported the incident, which prompted the abandonment of Monday’s friendly clash with Kuwait’s Under-22s side in Austria, to FIFA and UEFA and reiterated its zero tolerance stance on discrimination.
Crawford said: “I fully support the FAI’s stance to take this matter to FIFA and UEFA and hope now that the correct and appropriate action is taken.
“I’m proud of the stance our players and staff took to stand by one of their own. No-one should be subjected to racism. Football’s beauty is its inclusivity and we won’t let racism ruin our game.”
Play stopped at the Parktherme Arena in Bad Radkersburg shortly after half-time substitute Aidomo Emakhu had put Ireland 3-0 ahead.
An FAI statement said: “During the second half of Ireland Under-21s’ friendly with Kuwait Under-22 in Austria on Monday evening, we can once again confirm a racist remark was made to an Ireland substitute by a Kuwaiti player.
“The comment was heard by a number of Ireland players, who reported this immediately to match officials as well as to members of the Ireland and Kuwait team staff.
“Due to the nature of the remark made and with no affirmative action in relation to it from our opponents, the game was abandoned. FAI staff and players were fully in support with this decision.
“The FAI has offered its full and unequivocal support to the player who was subjected to racism and to his team-mates. We again confirm that we will be reporting this matter to FIFA and UEFA. The FAI does not tolerate any racism towards any of our players or staff.”
Crawford added: “After the hour mark, we believe there was a racist incident that we’re certainly not going to stand for. One of our players was racially abused and it certainly upset and annoyed a lot of our players.
“When I found the details about it, we as a whole group decided that there was no way we were going to play this game, and I do have to commend the level of maturity that our players showed.
“Everybody was calm about it and we stepped aside, we waited out on the pitch – Kuwait had left the dressing room earlier – and it was a really disappointing end to our international window.
“But I do think we cannot tolerate this type of behaviour in society, in sport, and for me what we did was the right thing to do and it’s something that we – certainly with the Under-21s group – something that we stand for.”
The Kuwaiti federation posted a tweet in which Olympic football team director Jarrah Al Ateeqi claimed the match had been abandoned “due to roughness and excessive tension between the players”.
Monday’s senior international between New Zealand and Qatar, also in Austria, was cut short after the New Zealand Football Association said one of its players, Michael Boxall, had a racist remark directed at him in the first half by a Qatari opponent, and FIFA is set to look into both incidents.
Even though the Ireland match was a tier-two friendly and did not require formal approval from the world governing body to be played, the FAI’s determination to report it means they will be obliged to investigate.
The New Zealand match was played under FIFA jurisdiction, meaning the referee’s report will be sent to them as a matter of course and they would be expected to take a tough stance if one or both of the allegations were found proven.
President Gianni Infantino said last week: “It’s very important not just to talk about racism and discrimination, but to take action in a decisive and convincing manner – zero tolerance.
“There is no football if there is racism – so let’s stop the games.
“The referees have this opportunity in FIFA competitions as we have this process for stopping the game, and actions have to be taken at every level, at national level as well.”
Infantino made the remarks after meeting with the Brazil squad in Barcelona, including Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior who has been on the receiving end of repeated racial abuse in Spain this year.
Al-Akhdoud 2-3 Al-Nassr: Brozovic stunner delays Al-Hilal coronation
Marcelo Brozovic scored twice – including a fine half-volley in second-half stoppage time – as Al-Nassr beat Al-Akhdoud 3-2 to delay Al-Hilal's Saudi Pro League title coronation on Thursday.
Former Inter midfielder Brozovic fired in a seventh-minute opener from outside the area before Cristiano Ronaldo tapped into an empty net to double the visitors' lead.
Sadio Mane struck the woodwork early in the second half and Al-Nassr relinquished control of the game from there, with goals from Hassan Al Habib and Saviour Godwin making it 2-2.
However, Brozovic blasted a bouncing ball home following a goalmouth scramble in the first of seven minutes of stoppage time to hand Al-Nassr a fifth straight win and keep them within nine points of Al-Hilal, with three games still to play.
They have only delayed the inevitable though as the leaders – who have only dropped four points all season – need just one more point to secure their crown ahead of facing Al-Hazm on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Brozovic upstages Ronaldo
While it's usually Ronaldo writing the headlines for Al-Nassr, he was upstaged by Brozovic on Thursday as the Croatian found the net with both of his shots, also leading all players on the pitch for final-third passes (19) and completing 90.1 per cent of his passes overall (81/95).
LA Galaxy v Real Salt Lake: Vanney encouraged ahead of top-of-the-table tussle
Greg Vanney believes the LA Galaxy are in a good spot both physically and mentally ahead of Saturday's clash with fellow Western Conference high-fliers Real Salt Lake.
The Galaxy sit third in the West through 11 matches of the season, though they have failed to win back-to-back road games against Austin FC (0-2) and the Seattle Sounders (0-0).
They are, however, unbeaten in all four of their home league games this term (two wins, two draws), and Vanney is looking forward to returning to Dignity Health Sports Park next time out.
"Physically, first and foremost, we're in a pretty good spot. We have a few guys coming back from issues that were pretty minor," Vanney said.
"It's good. We've been able to stay in that space for a while and now we're going into a busy part of the schedule we can make some choices about how we want to attack the week.
"Where are we mentally? We're good. It's nice to be home, it's a challenge to play a lot of games on the road early doors.
"We like the spot we're in and we want to keep building, but we've got to get through this tough stretch of games."
Real Salt Lake are top of the Western standings with 21 points, only losing twice in 11 league games this year.
However, they were dumped out of the U.S. Open Cup by New Mexico United on Wednesday, Pablo Mastroeni shuffling his pack for a 4-2 road loss.
"We completely tuned out," Mastroeni said after watching his team go 2-0 down within 20 minutes.
"The emotion is like, 'poor me,' and when you operate from that space, you can never think reasonably."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
LA Galaxy – Gabriel Pec
The Galaxy (12 shots) and Seattle (19) combined for 31 shots in their scoreless draw last time out.
Pec – who has two goals in 10 league appearances since joining the Galaxy in the offseason – recorded six of his team's attempts, but only hit the target once. He will be targeting an improvement here.
Real Salt Lake – Cristian Arango
Arango is the first Real Salt Lake player to contribute to at least one goal in five straight regular-season away matches, recording four goals and five assists during his streak.
He is just the second player since the start of last season to record a goal contribution in five straight MLS away matches, after the Columbus Crew's Cucho Hernandez.
MATCH PREDICTION – LA GALAXY WIN
The Galaxy have lost only one of their last 13 home matches against Real Salt Lake (nine wins, three draws) including going unbeaten through the last seven in a row.
The last two meetings in Carson have both ended level, though, after the Galaxy won nine of the previous 11 (one draw, one defeat).
However, Vanney's team have only lost one of their last 14 regular-season home matches dating back to last June, winning six and drawing six while averaging 2.2 goals per game throughout this run.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
LA Galaxy – 44.8%
Real Salt Lake – 27.8%
Draw – 27.4%
Al Ahli 1-2 Al Hilal: Malcom saves league leaders' winning streak
Malcom’s stunning solo goal finished Al Hilal’s second-half comeback to earn a 2-1 win over Al Ahli in the Saudi Pro League on Monday.
The forward started his run from inside his own half before slotting in the winner, after teeing up Aleksandr Mitrovic for the equaliser just after the interval.
Feras Al Brikan had given Al Ahli the lead in the 30th minute, but the hosts could not hold onto it against the league leaders.
Al Hilal continue their unbeaten league campaign to a 30th match, moving 12 points clear at the top of the table, while Al Ahli remain in third, now 22 points off the AFC Champions League spot.
Data Debrief
Malcom was one of Al Hilal's most influential players; as well as playing a hand in both goals, he had the joint-most shots (five), and the joint-most shots on target (two), and created two chances for his team.
Al Ahli also struggled to cope with Mitrovic's threat, as the Serbian created an xG of 0.61 from his five shots, having 11 touches in the opposition box.
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