Republic of Ireland Under-21s boss Jim Crawford said “we cannot tolerate this type of behaviour in society and in sport” after an alleged racist remark was made to one of his players.
The Republic were playing a friendly against Kuwait Under-22s on Monday.
Crawford’s side were 3-0 up when the game was abandoned after one of their substitutes was allegedly abused.
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) said the incident has been reported to Fifa and Uefa.
Also in its statement, the FAI said it “does not tolerate any racism towards any of our players or staff”.
The Kuwaiti FA said the match was stopped to “protect the players from potential injuries” rather than for racist abuse.
Crawford, however, reiterated that his side decided to leave the pitch because of a “racist incident”.
“After the hour mark, we believe there was a racist incident that we’re certainly not going to stand for,” he said. “One of our players was racially abused.
“It certainly upset and annoyed a lot of our players. When I found out the details about it, we as a whole group decided that there was no way we’re going to play this game.”
The 50-year-old also praised his players for how they handled the situation.
“I do have to commend the level of maturity that our players showed,” said Crawford.
“Everybody was calm about it, we stepped aside, we waited out on the pitch until Kuwait had left the dressing room area.
“It was a real disappointing end to our international window. I do think we cannot tolerate this type of behaviour in society and in sport.
“For me, what we did was the right thing to do and it’s something that we, certainly within the under-21s group, stand for.”
A second international friendly on Monday in Austria between New Zealand and Qatar was also abandoned, after New Zealand said their player Michael Boxall was abused by a Qatari player in the first half.
Source – BBC Sport
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