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Champions League Trophy (Getty Images)
Paris Saint-Germain decisive Champions League I play with Istanbul Basaksehir on Tuesday he was suspended in the first half when the players withdrew amid accusations of racism by one of the match referees, in an incident unprecedented in the competition of elite European football clubs.
The dispute erupted after Basaksehir assistant coach Pierre Webo, a former Cameroonian international, received a red card during a fierce fight on the touchline with Turkish club staff who appeared to accuse the fourth official of using a racist term.
Television microphones caught an irate Webo repeatedly asking why a racist term had been used to describe him.
Play at the Parc des Princes was stopped in the 14th minute scoreless, with the players retiring about 10 minutes later.
Senegalese international striker from Basaksehir, Demba Ba, among the visiting team’s substitutes, could be heard on television reproaching the referee: “When you mention a white man, you never say ‘this white’, you just say ‘this guy.’ ‘so why when you mention a nigga, you say’ this nigga ‘? “
The match, which started at 9:00 pm local time (22:00 SA local time), had not yet restarted 90 minutes after the stoppage, despite some of the PSG players briefly returning to the tunnel to warm up.
The incident sparked a reaction from Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is understood to be closely linked to the club’s owners.
He tweeted to say: “I strongly condemn the racist comments made to Pierre Webo, a member of Basaksehir’s coaching staff, and I am convinced that UEFA will take the necessary measures.”.
Our representative strongly condemns the racist comments made against Pierre Webo, one of Basaksehir’s technical team, and I believe that UEFA will take the necessary action.
We are indifferent to racism and discrimination in sport and in all areas of life. #No to racism
– Recep Tayyip Erdogan (@RTErdogan) December 8, 2020
Meanwhile, the president of the Turkish champions said his team would not restart the game while the fourth official was still involved.
“The fourth official used the word ‘black’ in front of everyone. If the fourth official is removed from the field, then we will restart,” Göksel Gümüsdag told Turkish television channel TRT Spor.
“If the fourth official remains on the field, Basaksehir will not come out again.”
Basaksehir responded to the incidents by tweeting “NO TO RACISM #Respect” along with a photo of the UEFA anti-racism logo. The message was retweeted by PSG.
The referee, Ovidiu Hategan, his two assistants and the fourth official are all from Romania.
UEFA rules stipulate that any team that refuses to play must lose the game and also faces a fine of 250,000 Swiss francs ($ 281,000), although it is unclear how that rule could be applied in this case.
Despite the interruption of the game, which was played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic, PSG qualified for the knockout stages of Group H after RB Leipzig beat Manchester United 3-2 in Germany.
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