A racism case involving the Republic of Ireland has been closed by FIFA due to insufficient evidence.
A Republic of Ireland Under-21 substitute was allegedly racially abused as he warmed up during a friendly match against Kuwait Under-22s in Austria on June 19.
The Irish players walked off the field in response to the alleged incident and the match was abandoned.
The PA news agency reported in September that the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) had submitted a formal complaint concerning the matter to FIFA, but football’s world governing body FIFA has now confirmed that the case has been closed.
The FAI said at the time of the alleged incident: “The comment was heard by a number of Ireland players, who reported this immediately to match officials as well as to members of the Ireland and Kuwait team staff.
“Due to the nature of the remark made and with no affirmative action in relation to it from our opponents, the game was abandoned. FAI staff and players were fully in support with this decision.
“The FAI has offered its full and unequivocal support to the player who was subjected to racism and to his team-mates. The FAI does not tolerate any racism towards any of our players or staff.”
The FAI has been approached for comment regarding the closure of the case.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has previously spoken about his organisation’s determination to tackle racism.
Speaking in June, prior to the Republic of Ireland allegation, Infantino said: “(Racism) is a football-related problem and we mustn’t look for excuses like, ‘It’s society’s problem, therefore, it’s fine in football’.
“In the world of football, we must act in a very forceful way.”
He added: “There is no football if there is racism. So let’s stop the games.
“The referees have this opportunity in FIFA competitions as we have this process for stopping the game, and actions have to be taken at every level, at national level as well. Everyone has to understand this and we will go, together, until the end.”
FIFA has issued sanctions on discrimination cases in the past, with the football associations of Ecuador, Mexico and Serbia given partial or full stadium closure orders and hit with fines in relation to misconduct by their supporters at last year’s World Cup in Qatar.
As part of the Social Media Protection Service, teams and players at that tournament were offered access to software that – with the account holder’s permission – could automatically and instantly hide abusive and offensive comments on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube only.
Through the moderation element of the service, a total of 286,895 comments were hidden from public view before the targeted recipient or their followers had to see their contents.
Charlie Smith strengthen second round ambition with 4-0 win over Tarrant; STATHS hammer KT 18-1
Former champions Charlie Smith High strengthened their chances of progressing to the second round of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup as they blanked Tarrant High 4-0 in their Zone B contest at the former’s Ninth Street base on Tuesday.
The win by Charlie Smith consolidated their hold on second position on 18 points and a healthy goal difference ahead of third-placed Jonathan Grant (15 points), who will be in action against fourth-placed Waterford (10 points) on Wednesday.
Reigning champions Mona High heads the Zone on 22 points, with Tarrant in fifth on six points, while Gaynstead High remain pointless.
Elsewhere, Zone D leaders St Andrew Technical (STATHS) hammered Kingston Technical 18-1 as they continue to hold Calabar at bay in the race for the top spot. Calabar defeated Vauxhall 4-1 at their Red Hills Road base.
Both teams moved to 22 points each, with STATHS holding a four-goal advantage over Calabar, while Haile Selassie (12 points), who lost 0-2 to Camperdown (11 points), remain third. Kingston Technical is still yet to gain a point.
Tuesday’s results
STATHS 18, Kingston Technical 1
Calabar 4, Vauxhall 1
Charlie Smith 4, Tarrant 0
Ascot High 4, Pembroke Hall 2
Haile Selassie 0, Camperdown 4
Dinthill, Port Antonio High open DaCosta Cup second round with 0-0 draw
Dinthill Technical and Port Antonio High opened the second round of the 2024 ISSA/Wata DaCosta Cup with a goalless draw at Carder Park on Tuesday.
For Dinthill, who finished second in Zone J of the first round on goal difference behind McGrath High, this was their second straight disappointing performance after a 1-2 loss to Charlemont High on Friday.
For Port Antonio, who comfortably won Zone M to advance to the second round, this is their second consecutive draw after eight consecutive wins to start the season.
Central High and Yallahs will face off tomorrow at Foga Road in the other Group 6 game.
Other games set for Wednesday include:
(Group 8) Christiana High vs Garvey Maceo High @Brooks Park
(Group 5) Happy Grove High vs Holmwood Tech @Carder Park
(Group 2) Ocho Rios High vs Black River High @Drax Hall
(Group 8) McGrath High vs St. Mary High @Ewarton Sports Complex
(Group 7) Glenmuir High vs Clarendon College @Glenmuir High
(Group 4) Maldon High vs Brown’s Town High @Jarrett Park
(Group 1) Cornwall College vs Kemps Hill High @Jarrett Park
(Group 3) Manning’s School vs Manchester High @Llandilo Community Centre
(Group 5) Belair High vs Denbigh High @Manchester High
(Group 4) Munro College vs Alphansus Davis High @Munro College
(Group 3) STETHS vs William Knibb Memorial @STETHS
(Group 1) Spot Valley High vs Rusea’s High @Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium
(Group 7) Paul Bogle High vs Titchfield High @York Oval
Portugal lacked 'a little bit of magic' in Scotland stalemate, says Martinez
Portugal manager Roberto Martinez was in a defensive mood following his team's goalless draw away to Scotland in the Nations League on Tuesday night.
After scoring in each of the Spaniard's first 12 competitive matches in charge of Portugal, the Selecao have since drawn a blank in four of their last seven matches.
Portugal did have their chances, however, registering 14 shots during the contest, though only three were on target, ending the night with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.52.
Martinez faced criticism for lacking a plan B after his side struggled to break the Scots down.
"Our talent of our players, is plan A, B, C, D, E," he told De Sporto after the match.
"We have players inside, outside, we are talking about a team that did not take risks, that defended very well.
"We are talking about a team [Portugal] that reached 53 times in the last third. We have to give credit to Scotland and to us the fact that we managed to keep a clean sheet."
It was a frustrating night for Martinez and fans alike.
Despite Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Jota among other big hitters starting, they were unable to find a way past 41-year-old goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who made some impressive saves when they did get in on goal.
When asked what was missing from the performance, he alluded to a lack of individual quality.
"A decision, a little bit of magic in the area. We had a lot of desire, we worked very well without the ball," Martinez said.
"It was a dangerous game because we could have possession of the ball, but Scotland have little need to score a goal. We showed freshness, but we lacked freshness in the last third.
"You also have to give credit to Scotland, they had a lot of players in front of goal, their goalkeeper also made a spectacular save."
Following the performance and result at Hampden Park, there have been further questions about Martinez's selection policy for Portugal.
The most high-profile query of all remains whether 39-year-old Ronaldo should continue, having had a difficult night on his 200th start for his country.
"The national team always has an open door, but now we are talking about a very, very large group of players," said Martinez.
"It is a question of continuing to connect and synchronise what we can do. Now the game in Porto is to celebrate qualification in front of our fans."
Scotland manager Steve Clarke, meanwhile, was much happier with the evening's result, which ended a four-game losing run for Scotland.
"It's not about turning a corner, it's just about working hard and not letting the country down. You could see that tonight," he said.
"The point was important for us after the work the group put in to get off the mark."
The result also marked Scotland's first clean sheet since beating Gibraltar 2-0 seven games ago in a pre-Euro 2024 warm-up friendly.
The performance at the back was another thing that pleased Clarke.
"Defensively sound, the shape of the team was good," he said.
"We denied a lot of space in behind. Good concentration in the box, determined defending at times, some really good blocks, which you need against sides like Portugal.
"Everyone contributed to earn the point."
Despite taking an unexpected point, Scotland are still bottom of their Nations League group, while the draw means they are winless in 10 matches - their longest ever run.
But Clarke feels the players will take a lot from Tuesday's match that will help them going forward.
"Everyone keeps talking about confidence, but they know they can play well," he said.
"We maybe didn't play as well as we could on the ball, which could be down to fatigue. But I don't think they lack confidence. Tonight's point will give us more confidence."
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