Two international matches abandoned after alleged racist abuse

The Republic of Ireland Under-21 team pictured before a friendly against Iceland in March

Two international matches were abandoned on Monday following allegations of racial abuse.

New Zealand said they refused to play the second half against Qatar after saying Michael Boxall was abused by a Qatari player during the first half.

The Republic of Ireland Under-21s' friendly with Kuwait also ended early after an alleged racist remark.

The Football Association of Ireland said a Kuwait Under-22 player made the remark to a Republic substitute.

In a statement released on Monday, the Kuwaiti FA denied the allegations.

Both matches were taking place in Austria, with New Zealand beating Qatar 1-0 in Vienna and the Republic U21s leading 3-0 against Kuwait in Bad Radkersburg before the abandonments.

"Michael Boxall was racially abused during the first half of the game by a Qatari player," New Zealand posted on their Twitter account.

"No official action was taken so the team have agreed not to come out for the second half of the match."

The FAI said it will report the incident during the Kuwait match to Fifa and Uefa.

"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," said the FAI's statement.

"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."

The Kuwaiti FA condemned the announcement made by their opponents, and said that the match was actually stopped to 'protect the players from potential injuries' rather than for racial abuse.

"Kuwaiti Football Association confirms that the circulated news is false, and it categorically rejects such accusations, especially considering that the match did not reach completion due to excessive roughness and tension between players," the statement read.

A Fifa spokesperson said: "Fifa is awaiting the official reports before deciding on next steps.

"Fifa has a zero-tolerance policy against any forms of discrimination as stressed last week by the Fifa president."

Gianni Infantino announced that Real Madrid's Vinicius Jr will lead a special anti-racism committee made up of players which will suggest stricter punishments for discriminatory behaviour in football.