GENEVA -
Two international soccer matches were suspended for racial abuse between players. A United States-Mexico game interrupted amid homophobic chants from fans. An adviser to the Brazilian player Vinicius Junior racially harassed by a commissioner in a stadium in Spain.
All these incidents in the past week are evidence of an "urgent crisis" facing soccer, an anti-discrimination group working with FIFA and European soccer body UEFA said on Tuesday.
The two men's games were called off on Monday when New Zealand and the Ireland under-21s refused to continue playing after hearing racial abuse by opponents from Qatar and Kuwait respectively, following days after FIFA president Gianni Infantino, reinstate the soccer task to address discrimination.
"There is no football if there is racism! So let's stop the games," Infantino said last Friday after meeting Vinicius in Barcelona and enlisting him to work with FIFA and other players.
Vinicius, who is black, has been subjected to constant racist abuse by fans in Spanish stadiums throughout the season while playing for Real Madrid, with referees or soccer organizers doing little to protect him.
The New Zealand and Irish soccer federations did not mention Infantino's promise when they explained on Monday why their teams would not go ahead with exhibition matches, both played in Austria.
Still, the message was clear to longtime FIFA advisers on discrimination in international soccer matches, the London-based Fare network.
"Two international matches abandoned due to racial abuse in one night tells us something about how young players are no longer prepared to tolerate racism on the pitch," Fare chief executive Piara Powar said in a statement on Tuesday. release. โIn addition to the conduct of a Spanish commissioner who racially abused a friend of Vinicius Junior holding a banana in a game in which the Brazilian team knelt, and the United States vs. Mexico that last week was stopped twice and truncated. by the referee for homophobia, we see the urgent crisis that football is going through".
FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Zurich-based body has jurisdiction over international friendlies between teams from different continental confederations, such as the New Zealand-Qatar and Ireland-Kuwait games.
New Zealand left the match at half time after accusing Qatari player Yusuf Abdurisag of making a racist comment to defender Michael Boxall, of Samoan descent.
After a melee between the teams in the 40th minute, New Zealand captain Joe Bell complained to referee Manuel Schuttengruber, who shook his head, indicating that he would take no action against the Qatari player.
In a statement, Football New Zealand said it stood with the players who refused to play the second half when the referee refused to take action.
"We never want a game to be abandoned, but some issues are bigger than football and it is important to take a stand," New Zealand chief football chief Andrew Pragnell said in a statement.
Qatar coach Carlos Queiroz said on the television broadcast of the match that both sets of players supported their own teammate.
"The referee didn't listen (what was said). It's just a discussion between two players. They decided to leave the game without witnesses," the former Portugal and Real Madrid coach said.
In European soccer, disciplinary cases for alleged racial abuse between players have been dismissed for lack of witnesses.
"It's a new chapter in football that is, without a doubt, something that nobody can understand," Queiroz said on Monday. "This game will be under FIFA observation, for sure."
Nearly 24 hours after the incident, the Qatar football federation released a statement confirming that words had been exchanged between the players on the spur of the moment, but that Abdurisag had not used "racial or discriminatory language".
Instead, the federation said, the Qatari striker, who is black, "emphasized that, in fact, he himself was racially abused during the match."
The Irish soccer federation said its under-21 team's match against the Kuwait Olympic team had been stopped "after a Kuwaiti player made a racist comment towards one of our substitutes."
"The (federation) does not tolerate any racism towards any of our players or staff and will report this serious matter to FIFA and UEFA," the Irish soccer body said on its Twitter account.
Last Friday, Infantino promised FIFA to create a working group that involves the players and that aims to "develop concrete and efficient measures to end racism in football once and for all."
โIt's a problem related to football and you don't have to look for excuses like: 'It's a problem for society, therefore, football is fine.' In the world of football you have to act in a very forceful way," he said.
Racial abuse of players has been present in soccer for decades, and it's been 10 years since a high-profile incident in Italy. Fan-directed racial abuse towards AC Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng prompted him to walk off the pitch during a friendly match. His companions followed him.
Then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter urged competition organizers around the world to impose tougher sanctions, but few complied.
Powar said that one positive thing after the games on Monday was that the associations quickly and fully supported their players.
"It may be the start of a new awareness on the part of national associations about the need to play their part in tackling discrimination," he said.
Qatar was playing New Zealand to prepare for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Qatar was invited to that tournament, which starts next week in the United States and Canada.
