PSG And Istanbul Basaksehir Match Suspended Over Alleged Racism By 4th Official (Video)

 

The match between Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir in the Champions League took a rather awful turn after fourth official Sebastian Coltescu was accused of racism.

 

 The incident led to the abandonement of the match on Tuesday night as players from both sides walked out of the pitch.

 

The Group H encounter was suspended midway through the first half after Pierre Webo, Basaksehir's black assistant manager, vehemently protested a decision on the touchline. 

 

As the referee came over, footage appeared to show Coltescu identifying Webo by saying: 'The black one over there. Go and check who he is. The black one over there, it's not possible to act like that'. 

 

It is believed Coltescu said 'negru', the Romanian word for black.

 

A furious Webo heard this and immediately accused Coltescu of racism. He had to be restrained by other members of the coaching staff as he was shown a straight red card. 

 

Ex-Chelsea striker Demba Ba, a substitute for the Turkish side, charged in the direction of Coltescu to question why he had used the word to identify Webo. 

 

He said: 'You never say "this white guy", you say "this guy", so why when you're mentioning him... listen to me... why when you mention a black guy, why do you say "this black guy".' 

 

Coltescu is a top-flight referee in Romania, but is reportedly officiating in his final European campaign after being demoted by FIFA. 

 

Last night he apologised, saying: 'Sorry for the misunderstanding. My intention was never racism. 

 

'In such an environment, people sometimes cannot express their feelings correctly and can be misunderstood. I apologise on behalf of the UEFA Champions League. I hope you understand.' 

Players and staff from both teams then got involved, and the Turkish side left the pitch after around 10 minutes of discussions with referee Ovidiu Hategan.

 

TV footage also showed PSG's French defender Presnel Kimpembe saying: 'Is he serious? We are heading in. We're heading in. That's it, we're heading in.' 

 

PSG stars Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Marquinhos were all seen on the touchline in discussion with Coltescu. Basaksehir coach Okan Buruk could be heard yelling 'you are racist' to Coltescu.

 

PSG players immediately followed their Turkish counterparts down the tunnel with the game at Parc des Princes suspended at 0-0.

 

After a lengthy delay, the game was called off and the remaining minutes will now be played on Wednesday at 6:55pm local time with a new refereeing team in charge led by Holland's Danny Makkelie. 

Istanbul Basaksehir then said on Twitter.'Our players have taken a decision NOT TO go back on the pitch after our Assistant Coach Pierre Webo has been exposed to racist behaviour by the 4th Official.' 

 

There was speculation that the match would restart at 10pm local time but PSG players were left waiting for the Turkish side in the tunnel. 

 

Basaksehir players reportedly refused to restart if Coltescu continued to participate in the match as a VAR (Video Assistant Referee), meaning he would have continued to make crucial decisions away from the touchline.

 

A new fourth official on the touchline would have required Coltescu to continue as a VAR with UEFA rules demanding two officials be in the video review area. However, there was nobody else to fulfil the role. 

Demba Ba and Marquinhos planned for both teams to walk back out onto the pitch, hand in hand.  But a number of Basaksehir players were against the idea and they were later seen leaving the stadium and boarding the team bus to return to their base for the evening.

 

A UEFA statement later read: 'Following an incident at tonight's UEFA Champions League match between Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir, UEFA has - after discussion with both clubs - decided on an exceptional basis to have the remaining minutes of the match played tomorrow with a new team of match officials.

 

'The kick-off has been set at 18:55CET. A thorough investigation on the incident that took place will be opened immediately.' 

Within minutes of the incident, Basaksehir's Twitter feed posted a picture of UEFA's 'No To Racism' campaign.   

 

Mbappe later posted 'SAY NO TO RACISM. XXX M.WEBO WE ARE WITH YOU' while Neymar tweeted a picture of himself and wrote 'BLACK LIVES MATTER'.

 

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter he believed UEFA would take the necessary steps.

 

'We are unconditionally against racism and discrimination in sports and in all areas of life,' he wrote. 

Speaking during BT Sport's Champions League coverage, Rio Ferdinand said: 'We are at a disturbing tipping point.

 

'Millwall, now this, in the same week, not a week goes by without an incident involving race, something needs to be done, the powers that be need to make a stand.

 

'Showing unity [by the players] is a start, but it cannot be left to players. It is not clear and it is hard to make a judgement and put your flag in the sand and say "this is what happened".

 

'We need the guys who are there to come out and speak and give their account of the story. It is something that needs sorting out. It is something that needs to be addressed certainly. There has to be something put down to show those are the rules.'

 

Paul Scholes added: 'It is about time a stance was made. Obviously everything we are hearing now is alleged, and if something has happened and clearly something has happened, the players walked off which is good.'

 

Owen Hargreaves commented: 'The great thing is football players will all stick together. All the boys are from all over the world. You think about Mbappe and Neymar leading the charge here and making the difference.