Mohamed Khalfan Al Harasi has been dropped from the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) 2018 Asian Games squad for his action in a friendly match against the Malaysia Under-23 team on Friday.

The 19-year-old Al-Ain FC midfielder lashed out at Malaysia defender Adib Zainudin in the final minutes of the match, which caused a massive brawl between both teams at the Shah Alam Stadium.

The United Arab Emirates Football Association issued a statement shortly after the match, which saw Malaysia win 2-0, and apologised for the incident.


"The Football Association expresses its regret of the events that accompanied the match involving our player Mohammed Khalfan Al Harasi, which is not related to morals and sports spirit, which is always a slogan for all our national teams and clubs during all matches, both official and friendly, and in various regional, continental and international championships," read the statement.

"Based on a preliminary report, it has been decided to remove him from the list of players participating at the Asian Games and refer him to the committees concerned within the Association to take necessary procedures.

"The Football Association apologises to the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) for the unfortunate events that do not represent the UAE players' ethics."

The UAE are scheduled to face China, Timor-Leste and Syria in Group C of the Asian Games.

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