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The incident of racism in Paris overshadowed the day of the Champions League. The players canceled the game and did everything right.
It was the 14th minute of the Champions League match between Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Başakşehir when the Romanian referee team wanted to send Istanbul assistant Pierre Webó to the stands for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“The black over there. Go see who it is. The black over there, you can’t act like that.” The fourth official, Sebastian Coltescu, addressed these words to the main referee Ovidiu Hategan, and they meant, audibly to the person concerned, Pierre Webó.
Pierre Webó: The Cameroonian was the victim of racist statements. (Source: VI Images / imago images)
The Başakşehir players immediately protested and refused to continue playing (More about this here). On the Paris side, too, the players of world champion Kylian Mbappé and superstar Neymar expressed their solidarity and demanded the replacement of the fourth official before both teams left the field at around 9:23 p.m.
The right signal
They all got behind Webó and pointed out: We do not tolerate any form of racism. The designation of Webó as “black” (the fourth Romanian official had used the Romanian word for black – “negru”) revealed that everyday racism for which there should be no place. There would have been many ways for the Fourth Officer to describe Webó. It was decided solely by the color of the skin.
“When you describe someone, you say ‘This man’, never ‘This white man’. So: if you mean a black man, why do you say ‘This black man’ and not ‘This man’?” He asked visibly. He touched Istanbul player Demba Ba Coltescu moments after the incident, and he hit the spot.
The decision of both teams to leave the field together. The abandonment of the game was not a scandal, it was good and there was no alternative.
Demba Ba (second from right) complains to referee Hategan about his assistant. (Source: Charles Platiau / Reuters)
French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu spoke of a “historic decision” by the players.
And what about Uefa? In the evening, the association announced that “there is no place for racism and discrimination in all its forms in football.”
UEFA has been preaching “No to racism” for years in its high-profile campaign. If you take the “motto” seriously, you must clearly condemn the incidents and ensure that such a statement by a referee does not happen again.
