REPUBLIC OF IRELAND MIDFIELDER James McClean has praised the members of the Ireland U21s for supporting Ireland's Sinclair Armstrong in the wake of a racism storm.
On Monday, Ireland's Jim Crawford's U-21 Ireland side were winning 3-0 in the game against Kuwait, but the clash was stopped because apparently QPR forward Armstrong was racially abused by one of the Kuwait players.
A statement from the FAI on Monday said, "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."
However, Kuwait's FA later issued their own statement and denied the allegations, saying the game was called off for 'excessive force', not racial abuse, in a 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.
— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) June 19, 2023
"The Kuwait Football Association confirms that the circulated news is false and categorically rejects such accusations, especially considering the match did not reach completion due to excessive roughness and tension between the players," said the Kuwait FA in reply to the FAI's statement.
McClean, who won his 100th cap in the 3-0 win over Gibraltar on the same day, was asked about the alleged racial abuse and said to RTÉ, "Credit to them. Fair play. It's showing that they're with their teammate.
"All I can say is absolute credit to the lads for how they handled themselves, walking off the pitch and showing solidarity with their teammate. It shouldn't happen, but fair play to them."
It is also reported that FIFA is set to examine the report of alleged racism. If the person is found guilty, FIFA are expected to act with a severe punishment.
