UAE demands apology for 'sand monkeys' comment

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The United Arab Emirates Football Association has demanded an apology after a story on the Asian Football Confederation website referred to its national side as the "Sand Monkeys.''

General Secretary Yousuf Abdulla on Sunday called the wording in Friday's 2015 Asian Cup profile an "unfortunate affair'' which "revealed some racist acts by some AFC officials.''

An AFC spokesman said the wording was immediately removed once editors were made aware of it. He called it a "genuine mistake'' inserted by a new website writer who had seen "Sand Monkeys'' wrongly listed as the team's nickname on its Wikipedia page. The team's actual nickname is Al Abyad, or The White.

A review of the UAE page shows that the phrase was put up last month but removed Saturday.

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