Ireland Under-21s v Kuwait Under-22s recap as match abandoned after racism incident
The Republic of Ireland Under-21s’ friendly against Kuwait Under-22s was abandoned after one of the Ireland substitutes was allegedly the target of racist abuse.
Monday afternoon’s game at the Parktherme Arena in Bad Radkersburg, Austria was brought to a premature conclusion in the second half with Jim Crawford’s men leading 3-0.
The Football Association of Ireland posted on Twitter: “The FAI regrets to announce that today’s U21 international against Kuwait has been abandoned after a racist remark was made by a Kuwaiti player towards one of our substitutes.
“The FAI does not tolerate any racism towards any of our players or staff and will be reporting this serious matter to FIFA and UEFA.”
Ireland led 2-0 at the break after early goals from Ollie O’Neill and Conor Carty, and extended their advantage seven minutes after the restart through Aidomo Emakhu, making his debut after being introduced as a half-time substitute.
Crawford spoke out passionately in March after members of Ireland’s Under-15s squad were racially abused online, prompting the FAI to brand the perpetrators’ actions “vile and horrific”.
Monday’s game came at the end of a training camp in Austria designed to prepare them for September’s European Championship qualifiers against Turkey and San Marino, and four days after they fought back to draw 2-2 with Ukraine Under-21s.
Defenders: James Abankwah (Udinese), Tayo Adaramola (Crystal Palace), Sam Curtis (St. Patrick’s Athletic) James Furlong (Brighton & Hove Albion), Anselmo Garcia MacNulty (Wolfsburg), Sean Grehan (Crystal Palace), Connor O’Riordan (Crewe Alexandra), Sean Roughan (Lincoln City)
Midfielders: Darragh Burns (MK Dons), Dara Costelloe (Burnley), Jack Henry-Francis (Arsenal), Joe Hodge (Wolves), Bosun Lawal (Celtic), Ed McJannet (Lecce), Killian Phillips (Crystal Palace), Harry Vaughan (Hull City)
Forwards: Sinclair Armstrong (QPR), Conor Carty (St. Patrick’s Athletic, on loan from Bolton Wanderers), Dylan Duffy (Lincoln City), Aidomo Emakhu (Millwall), Andrew Moran (Brighton & Hove Albion), Armstrong Oko-Flex (West Ham United), Ollie O’Neill (Derry City, on loan from Fulham)
19:35Eamon Doggett
Ireland U21 match abandoned after alleged racist remark to Irish player
By Garry Doyle
The Irish Under 21 friendly against Kuwait’s Under 22 team was abandoned this afternoon after a Kuwaiti player reportedly racially abused one of Ireland’s substitutes.
As soon as the incident occurred, the Ireland U21 manager, Jim Crawford, took his players off the field. They were winning 3-0 at the time.
The FAI has subsequently issued a statement, via Twitter, which said: “The FAI does not tolerate any racism towards any of our players or staff and will be reporting this serious matter to FIFA and UEFA.”
This shocking incident completely overshadows an afternoon when Ireland completely outplayed their Asian opponents, scoring two goals inside the opening 10 minutes, the first from Ollie O’Neill, the second from Conor Carty.
Aidomo Emakhu then scored from close range to make it 3-0 just before the alleged racist incident.
Elsewhere, New Zealand didn’t come out for the second half of their international friendly with Qatar after another alleged racist incident in a match held in Austria this evening.
New Zealand Football said: “Michael Boxall was racially abused during the first half of the game by a Qatari player.
“No official action was taken so the team have agreed not to come out for the second half of the match.”
New Zealand were 1-0 up at half-time of the match after Marko Stamenic opened the scoring.
17:57Luke Jennings
Game abandoned
The game has been abandoned due to a Kuwait player making a racist remark towards an Irish substitute.
17:23Luke Jennings
Ireland 3-0 Kuwait
Goal! Aidomo Emakhu makes it three on his Ireland under-21 debut.
17:09Luke Jennings
We’re back underway!
Action has resumed in Austria between the two sides.
16:51Luke Jennings
Half-time: Ireland 2-0 Kuwait
The Boys in Green should be more than two goals up going into the break. A dominant display.
16:43Luke Jennings
Ireland 2-0 Kuwait
Goal! Conor Carty finds the net to double Ireland’s lead.
16:11Luke Jennings
Ireland 1-0 Kuwait
Goal! Ollie O’Neill finds the net from close range to put the Boys in Green in front after five minutes.
16:04Luke Jennings
We’re underway!
Action has began at the Parktherme Arena, Bad Radkersburg in Austria.
16:02Luke Jennings
Good afternoon
Hello and welcome to our coverage of Ireland under-21s v Kuwait under-22s in an international friendly match.
The match is taking place at the Parktherme Arena, Bad Radkersburg in Austria with a kick-off time of 4pm.
The game is not being shown on TV or streamed but we’ll be providing live score updates throughout.
Starting 11: Josh Keeley; Sam Curtis, Connor O’Riordan, Sean Grehan, James Furlong; Bosun Lawal, Ed McJannet, Andrew Morean; Darragh Burns, Conor Carty, Ollie O’Neill.
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