Republic of Ireland U21 manager Jim Crawford commended his players' maturity and said that racist abuse could not be tolerated after the abandonment of their friendly with Kuwait, amid reports that an opposition player had racially abused a member of the Irish squad.
With around 20 minutes remaining in Monday's friendly in Austria, which Ireland led 3-0, the FAI said a racist remark was directed at a member of the Ireland substitutes' bench. Following the incident, the Irish players and management refused to continue and the match was abandoned.
In a statement after the match, the FAI stated that racism towards players or staff would not be tolerated and that the "serious matter" would be reported to FIFA and UEFA.
The Kuwait FA issued a statement in response, rejecting the accusation of racism.
Speaking to FAI TV today, U21 boss Crawford reflected on the incident, saying that they had taken the correct action.
"We knew it was going to be a challenging match," Crawford said. "Kuwait are preparing for an Asian Cup and we're obviously preparing for the European championships in September. As normal, we worked hard on the training pitch and were expecting a competitive game.
"After the hour mark, we believe there was a racist incident that we're not going to stand for. One of our players was racially abused. It upset and annoyed a lot of our players. When I found the details about it, we as a whole group decided there's no way we're going to play this game.
"I do have to commend the level of maturity that our players showed. 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 really disappointing end to our international window.
"But we cannot tolerate this type of behaviour in society, in sport. For me, what we did was the right thing to do."
'We, as a whole group, decided there's no way we're going to play this game" - Republic of Ireland U21 manager Jim Crawford speaks on the abandoned friendly against Kuwait with the FAI reporting that an Irish substitute was racially abused by an opposing player pic.twitter.com/TBOzaLcIlk
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) June 20, 2023
Following the reports yesterday, the Kuwait FA released a statement condemning the Irish account and categorically denying the accusations.
"Kuwait Football Association confirms that the circulated news is false and it categorically rejects such accusations," it read.
The statement went on to claim that the game was brought to a halt to protect the players from potential injuries given the "excessive roughness and tension" between both sides.
"The Kuwaiti national teams are characterised by commitment, discipline, good manners and exemplary behaviour. None of them are allowed to act improperly towards any other party," the statement concluded.
It was the second game of Ireland's Austrian tour, with the side drawing 2-2 against Ukraine on Saturday. An earlier game against the Gabon Under-23 side was cancelled after the African side decided not to travel.
