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Players from Paris St Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir left the field during the first half of their Champions League clash after the fourth official was accused of racism.
Tuesday night’s Group H match in Paris was suspended after the Turkish team left the field in the 23rd minute, and the home team followed.
It came after a red card was shown to one of Basaksehir’s staff, apparently assistant manager Pierre Webo, with video footage appearing to show the Cameroonian accusing the fourth official of using racist language.
Basaksehir posted a message on his Twitter account that read: “NO TO RACISM #Respect.”
Video footage also showed Basaksehir striker Demba Ba protesting with the fourth official, Romanian Sebastian Colţescu, on the touchline.
The former Chelsea striker asked the official: “Why, when you mention a black man, do you have to say this black man?”
Suspended match
UEFA’s governing body said in a statement that the match would continue with a replacement fourth official, but more than an hour after the players left the pitch it had not yet done so.
UEFA said: “Following an alleged incident involving the fourth official, the match was temporarily suspended. After consulting with both teams, it was agreed that the match would be restarted with a different fourth official.
“UEFA will fully investigate the matter and they will communicate further in due course.”
Basaksehir later announced that his players would not appear to complete the match.
“Our players have made the decision NOT to return to the pitch after our assistant coach, Pierre Webo, has been exposed to racist behavior by the 4th referee,” the Turkish champions wrote on Twitter.
The remainder of the match will be played on Wednesday at 5:55 pm GMT with a new team of referees, UEFA announced.
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