Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir on Tuesday staged an unprecedented joint walk out over alleged racism by a Champions League match official, prompting UEFA to suspend the game and launch an investigation.
Both teams left the pitch after a lengthy touchline row, which erupted when the Romanian fourth official, Sebastian Coltescu, appeared to describe Basaksehir assistant coach Pierre Webo, a former Cameroon international, as “black,” or “negru” in Romanian.
The group game in Paris, which was goalless at the time, was suspended and was to resume where it left off, in the 14th minute, after press time last night, with a different set of match officials.
Photo: AFP
Following the match, PSG striker Kylian Mbappe tweeted: “Say no to racism,” while teammate Neymar posted: “Black Lives Matter”.
Both players were prominent in the heated discussions on the touchline.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote on Twitter that he “strongly condemn the racist remarks,” while Romanian-born French Minister of Sports Roxanna Maracineanu praised the players’ “historic decision.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
Basaksehir midfielder Giuliano told Brazilian media: The comment “was very clear, many people heard, including our coach. It was disgraceful.”
“As a team and a group, we decided to protest because that is unacceptable. Racism has to end,” Giuliano said.
The row blew up after Webo was shown a red card. Television microphones in the empty Parc des Princes then picked up a furious Webo repeatedly asking why a racist term had been used to describe him.
In the exchange in question between the all-Romanian officiating team, Coltescu said: “The black one over there. This is not possible. Go and identify him. That guy, the black one.”
Basaksehir’s Senegal international striker Demba Ba, among the substitutes for the away side, could be heard remonstrating with the official, saying in English: “When you mention a white guy, you never say: ‘This white guy,’ you just say: ‘This guy.’ So why when you mention a black guy do you say: ‘This black guy?’”
UEFA promised a “thorough investigation” into the incident.
European soccer’s governing body said that it had “decided on an exceptional basis to have the remaining minutes of the match played with a new team of match officials.”
UEFA’s regulations for the Champions League stipulate that, normally, any team refusing to play must forfeit the game and also face a fine of 250,000 euros (US$303,000).
Danny Makkelie of the Netherlands was named as the referee for the remainder of the game, with the other officials from the Netherlands and Poland. They replace Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan, his two assistants and Coltescu.
The president of the Turkish champions said that his side refused to restart the game as long as the fourth official was still involved.
“The fourth official used the word ‘negro’ in front of everybody. If the fourth official is removed from the pitch, then we will restart,” Goksel Gumusdag told Turkish television channel TRT Spor.
Basaksehir responded to the incidents by tweeting “NO TO RACISM #Respect,” along with a photograph of UEFA’s anti-racism logo.
The message was retweeted by PSG, who later tweeted their support on their English-language feed.
“All forms of racism go against the values held by Paris Saint-Germain, the club’s Chairman, staff and players,” the French champions wrote.
Despite the interruption of the match, played behind closed doors because of the COVID-19 pandemic, PSG qualified for the last 16 from Group H after RB Leipzig beat Manchester United 3-2 in Germany.
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