Unfortunately I don't see anything coming of this now, NZ simply isn't a big enough country and football is far too diverse and global a game for anyone to really care. And if it was that word that we are hearing reported there will simply be a lot of people that will say that the Qatari player is allowed to say it because he's black. Is that right or wrong? I really don't know.
It does open up a wider issue to me though, I've heard players up and down this country say things just as bad things as that during football matches, some have been involved in national setups. We're gonna need to take a good hard look at attitudes and languages in football in this country moving forward too.
It does open up a wider issue to me though, I've heard players up and down this country say things just as bad things as that during football matches, some have been involved in national setups. We're gonna need to take a good hard look at attitudes and languages in football in this country moving forward too.
I also wonder about a couple of things;
1) Following on from you Monto, what if one of our national team players let slip with an insult in a future game?
2) It's one thing to walk off in a friendly played in front off two men and a dog - and this is a hypothetical - would the same outcome happen in a World Cup Qualifier? Could that lead to, say, a Fijian player saying something to provoke a walk-off that is unheard by the referee which would likely lead to a default 0-3 loss?
BTW: I support what was done, and now thinking of unintended consequences.