Former Iraqi international Ali Abbas has accused opposing players of racially, religiously and culturally abusing him during Saturday`s A-League Sydney derby, reports said Sunday.
|Last Updated: Mar 09, 2014, 12:14 PM IST|Source: AFP
Sydney: Former Iraqi international Ali Abbas has accused opposing players of racially, religiously and culturally abusing him during Saturday`s A-League Sydney derby, reports said Sunday.
The claims made against unnamed Western Sydney Wanderers players are reportedly to be investigated by Abbas`s Sydney FC club.
The furious Iraqi-born player protested vehemently to the referee in the final minutes of the volatile local derby, and later said his outburst was triggered by what he alleged to be racial slurs.
"We are not here to attack religion or culture; we are here to play football," Abbas told Fox Sports.
"I come from a different country, I respect everyone here. I should get it back. If I don`t get it back, I`m going to attack. That`s what happened."
Abbas was on the end of a number of strong challenges during the incident-packed match, including an apparent blow to the head from Wanderers Italian midfielder Iacopo La Rocca.
The incensed Abbas had to be physically restrained by his team-mates several times as he raged at Wanderers players during the match.
He had the last word by converting a stoppage-time penalty to seal a 3-1 win for Sydney FC before more than 40,000 fans at Allianz Stadium.
Abbas said his fury was solely prompted by words directed at him by opposing players.
"If people attack religion, if people attack culture -- I`m against that. We need to stop that," he said.
Neither Sydney FC coach Frank Farina nor Wanderers boss Tony Popovic were aware of the incident immediately after the match, but Sydney FC chief executive Tony Pignata said he would take the matter further if necessary.
Pignata told Fairfax Media that he will speak with Abbas further before deciding whether to raise the matter with Football Federation Australia (FFA).
"He was obviously very unhappy after the game in the dressing room with what happened," Pignata said.
"We don`t know the full details and can`t really comment until then. I`ll speak to him again to get a better of idea of what happened."
Abbas, 27, was a member of the victorious Iraqi national team that won the Asian Cup in 2007.
He fled war-torn Iraq after playing an under-23s international against Australia north of Sydney in 2007, and was later granted asylum to stay in the country.
Abbas became an Australian citizen in 2012.
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