Qatar's women's basketball team slammed a ban on their Muslim headscarves as an "insult" Thursday as a doping case and football match-fixing claims also rocked the Asian Games.
The furious Qataris pulled out of a second game and looked set to quit the basketball tournament altogether over a rule forbidding headwear in international games.
"This is an insult to us, they did not respect our religion," Qatar forward Refaa Morjan Mohammed told AFP.
In further controversies, the Olympic-style tournament in Incheon, South Korea, was hit by its second doping case after a Cambodian soft tennis player tested positive.
And a betting analysis company voiced strong suspicions that certain group games in the men's football had been rigged, citing unusual wagering patterns.
The incidents overshadowed a busy day six highlighted by South Korean swimmer Park Tae-Hwan's third failure to win a title, and another gold rush for China.
Qatar's women refused to attend the stadium for Thursday's game with Nepal, a day after they walked on court to face Mongolia but quickly departed when told they could not play.
Basketball body FIBA's ban on headwear in international competition is motivated by safety but it has raised hackles at Asia's Olympics, which includes several Muslim nations.
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), which runs the quadrennial Asian Games, criticised FIBA. Other sports such as football allow religious headwear.
"Every athlete has the right to represent their country's flag without discrimination," OCA director general Husain Al-Musallam said.
