Qatar's football authority has denied one of their players used a racial slur against All Whites' Michael Boxall in yesterday's friendly.
Kiwi players refused to come onto the pitch after halftime, saying Qatari player Yusuf Abdurisag used a "significant racial slur" against the All Whites defender — sparking commotion on the field.
When officials took no action, the New Zealand players abandoned the game.
Qatar's governing body for football, the QFA, responded to the allegations, saying the players had an exchange of words "in the heat of the moment".
"Yusuf stressed that no racial or discriminatory language was used or directed towards the player of the New Zealand team."
It fired off its own allegation, saying Abdurisag claims he was racially abused during the game.
"Yusuf stressed that, in fact, he himself was racially abused during the match," it said.
The association went on to say it stands against racism in football.
"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."
New Zealand Football told 1News it fully refutes the allegations and stands by its players.
"The footage of the game clearly shows several of our players responding in unison to something offensive being said and the racial slur was heard widely by a number of players on the field."
It said yesterday that it would be contacting FIFA about protecting its players from racial abuse. It reiterated this to 1News today: "Rather than New Zealand Football or the Qatar Football Association commenting further, we have referred this matter to FIFA to investigate due to the seriousness of its nature."
The All Whites' decision not to return to the field after Michael Boxall was racially abused has been praised. (Source: 1News)
The association's chief executive Andrew Pagnell said yesterday the team's decision to leave the field was one he was "really proud of".
The All Whites' line in the sand comes after FIFA reintroduced its racism task force last week.
Shortly after bringing back the task force, FIFA boss Gianni Infantino said he wanted refs to stop football games when racism occurs, saying a "zero tolerance" approach must take place at all levels of the game.
"It's very important not just to talk about racism and discrimination, but to take action in a decisive and convincing manner — zero tolerance," Infantino said last week.
"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."
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