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Pierre Webó is from Cameroon, he was a footballer, today he is an assistant coach of Istanbul Basaksehir and he was on the bench for the Turkish team at the Parc des Princes, Paris Saint-Germain stadium, for the last match of the Champions group stage.
At 14 minutes, the referee went to the Turkish bench to expel the Cameroonian coach. Cameras focus, angles tighten. The Cameroonian lowers his mask, reveals the face that is disgusted by the decision and makes him scream, while trying to approach the fourth official. The stadium is empty and the usual silence that has replaced the noise of the fans allows the microphones to pick up what you normally try to read on your lips.
– “Why do you say black ?! Why do you say black ?! Why do you say black ?!”
Pierre Webó exclaims more than a question. He is excited, he is restless, not even Ovidiu Haţegan, the main referee, stretched out his arm with the red card and the Cameroonian is already boiling before Sebastian Colţescu, the fourth official. They and the other two members of the refereeing team are Romanians, all of whom come together in the area between the benches, like the players. Everyone is drawn there.
Baptiste Fernández / Getty
Footballers, coaches, referees, team staff members, game delegates, everyone gets mixed up and the television broadcast captures what they can. Again, the microphones.
Demba Ba, a Senegalese forward who is a substitute for Basaksehir, approaches Sebastian Colţescu, fourth official, and confront him. Some words that you vocalize are heard. “You never say ‘this target’. You say ‘this guy'”, he shoots and repeats, face to face with the officer, who tries to answer him but the attempt to answer is not audible. “Listen to me. If when you talk about a black man, why do you say ‘this black man’?”, The player continues, until someone else intervenes and separates them.
What followed were many more conversations and dialogues that took place on the pitch until the PSG and Basaksehir players refused to continue play and retreated to the locker room. On its official Twiiter account, the Turkish club would post a picture of UEFA’s “No to Racism” campaign. Shortly after, PSG shared it.
The game was interrupted around 8:23 pm. An hour later she was still suspended, with her soul on the lawn of Parque dos Princes and UEFA changes, both on her social networks and no story to the minute of the game that you keep on your site. “Game suspended. More information coming soon”, says the last entry.
Baptiste Fernández / Getty
But to “Atlético”, the entity responded with a note explaining that “after consulting with the two teams, it was agreed that the match would be resumed with a different fourth official.” At 9:40 p.m., however, the broadcast showed a PSG official collecting jackets and equipment that the substitute players left on the bench, where they had to travel to comply with the protocols of the Champions League matches.
UEFA later wrote that it will “investigate the matter further” and provide further information “in due course.
At stake, in the match, was the passage to the knockout stages of the Champions League, which on this last day was debated between three of the four teams in Group H: Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig and Manchester United. That discussion ended even before this match could end, because the English team lost (3-2) in Germany and the accounts of the direct confrontation with the French condemn him to be happy with the Europa League.
Almost at 10:30 p.m., the Romanian Football Federation, in which the four members of the refereeing team are registered, issued an ad, realizing that “is waiting for the report” from UEFA, which “will analyze the incident.” The federation explained that it will act “accordingly” and said that it is “firmly delimited by any racist or xenophobic action or statement.”
Minutes later, UEFA shook off the silence and reacted via Twitter: “UEFA is aware of an incident [ocorrido] during tonight’s Champions League match between Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir and will conduct an in-depth investigation. Racism and discrimination in any format have no place in football ”.
The entity would also confirm that after “discussion with both clubs” and with an “exceptional base”, the minutes that remain to be played will resume this Wednesday, starting at 5:55 pm, with “a new referee team.”
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