Ugly scenes saw players walk off the pitch during a Champions League clash before only agreeing to return if the referee was changed.
Paris Saint-Germain’s decisive Champions League game with Istanbul Basaksehir was suspended and will be completed a day late as the players walked off amid allegations of racism by one of the match officials.
The row erupted after Basaksehir assistant coach Pierre Webo, the former Cameroon international, was shown a red card during a fierce argument on the touchline with staff from the Turkish club appearing to accuse the Romanian fourth official of using a racist term.
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Television microphones picked up a furious Webo repeatedly asking why a racist term had been used to describe him.
The game at the Parc des Princes in Paris stopped in the 14th minute, with the players walking off around 10 minutes later.
In a statement UEFA promised to open a “thorough investigation” into the incidents and confirmed the match would restart on Thursday morning (AEDT) from where it stopped.
European football’s governing body said it had “decided on an exceptional basis to have the remaining minutes of the match played with a new team of match officials”.
Basaksehir’s Senegal international striker Demba Ba, among the substitutes for the away side, could be heard remonstrating with the official, saying: “When you mention a white guy, you never say ‘this white guy’, you just say ‘this guy’, so why when you mention a black guy do you say ‘this black guy?’”
The game had still not 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 owners of the club.
He tweeted to say: “I strongly condemn the racist remarks made to Pierre Webo, member of the Basaksehir technical staff, and am convinced UEFA will take the necessary measures.”
Meanwhile, the president of the Turkish champions said his side would not restart the game as long as the fourth official was still involved.
“The fourth official used the word ‘negro’ in front of everybody. If the fourth official is removed from the pitch, then we will restart,” Göksel Gümüsdag told Turkish television channel TRT Spor.
“If the fourth official remains on the pitch, then Basaksehir will not come back out.”
Basaksehir responded to the incidents by tweeting “NO TO RACISM #Respect” along with a photo of UEFA’s 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 refusing to play must forfeit the game and also faces a fine of 250,000 Swiss francs ($AUD380,000), although it is unclear how such a rule could be applied in this case.
Despite the interruption of the match, being played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus pandemic, PSG qualified for the last 16 from Group H after RB Leipzig beat Manchester United 3-2 in Germany.
Football fans watching the action on TV were stunned by what they were witnessing.
Roi Carthy wrote on Twitter: “Crazy s**t going down in the PSG game. Unbelievable.”
Football presenter Mina Rzouki congratulated the players for walking off and added: “This is just madness — how can this be happening??”
English football writer Miguel Delaney referenced the “incredible scenes of solidarity in Paris”.
Former Sports Illustrated football writer Grant Wahl said: “Huge moment in the fight against racism here. Demba Ba: ‘Listen to me!’ Credit to him and to Basaksehir and PSG players for showing zero tolerance and walking off the field after the 4th official crossed a very clear line.”
AFP
