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The Champions League match late Tuesday night was already interrupted after nearly a quarter of a match since the Turkish team refused to continue playing. PSG also abandoned the solidarity plan.
The investigation of the European Football Association (Uefa) will try to clarify what happened, but according to television images, audio recordings and testimonies of players and leaders, the origin of the riot and the racist accusations was the action of the fourth referee.
Sebastian Coltescu Romanian Referee Ovidiu Hategan drew attention to something Basaksehir’s assistant coach Pierre Webo did or said and wanted him to be sent off.
When Coltescu pointed Webo to the referee, the fourth official is said to have said: “The black over there. Go see who it is. The black over there can’t behave that way. “
Webo, who during his playing time was the player for the Cameroon national team, reacted strongly to the appointment and repeatedly asked the fourth official why he used the term “negru” (black in Romanian).
Senegalese national team forward Demba Ba, one of Basaksehir’s substitutes, chimed in and was heard to say: “When you mention a white, you never say ‘this white’, you only say ‘this guy’ when you mention a black boy you say “This black boy”. Why? “
Basaksehirs Midfielder Giuliano told the Brazilian media that the referee’s comment “was very clear, many heard it, including our coach.” It was embarrassing. As a team and as a group, we decided to protest because this is unacceptable. We must end racism. “
To continue the match, Basaksehir demanded the replacement of the fourth official and received support from PSG, but UEFA failed to find a new referee during the evening.
During the night, however, it was decided that the match would resume with a new team of referees as early as Thursday.
Dutchman Danny Makkelie was appointed head referee and, at 6:55 p.m. Thursday night, kicked off the game to clear the remaining 76 minutes. Pierre Webo was back on Basaksehir’s bench, after the red card that was given to him was withdrawn.
In heating Players from both teams wore “No to Racism” T-shirts and before kick-off, the two teams, as the refereeing team, gathered around the center circle and then knelt in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
UEFA also chose to make an exception to its regulations, which state that a team that abandons the plan must be seen as a loser and must be fined an amount of approximately 2.6 million SEK. That will not happen in this case.
Reactions to Wednesday’s events in Paris have been strong and also quickly turned political, with condemnatory statements from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The French Sports Minister, Roxanna Maracineanu, born in Romania, supported the actions of the players to leave the pitch, calling it a “historic decision”.
Even the French Football Association President Noël Le Graët expresses his support for the players.
– I pay tribute to the attitude of the two teams that made an exemplary decision when leaving the field of play. These unacceptable events do not take place in an arena, he says according to Reuters.
Ionut Stroe, Romania’s sports minister, apologizes for the behavior of her compatriot Sebastian Coltescu.
– We strongly condemn all statements that may be considered racist or discriminatory. On behalf of Romanian sport, I apologize for this regrettable event. It was an individual event, it does not represent Romanian sports, he tells Digi24 television channel.
Paris Saint-Germain finally won the resumed match with a clear 5-1. As Leipzig had previously beaten Manchester United 3-2, PSG were already ready for the round of 16, but thanks to the win against Basaksehir, they also secured first place in the group.
