Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir on Tuesday staged an unprecedented joint walk out over alleged racism by a Champions League match official, prompting UEFA to suspend the game and launch an investigation.
Both teams left the pitch after a lengthy touchline row, which erupted when the Romanian fourth official, Sebastian Coltescu, appeared to describe Basaksehir assistant coach Pierre Webo, a former Cameroon international, as “black,” or “negru” in Romanian.
The group game in Paris, which was goalless at the time, was suspended and was to resume where it left off, in the 14th minute, after press time last night, with a different set of match officials.
Photo: AFP
Following the match, PSG striker Kylian Mbappe tweeted: “Say no to racism,” while teammate Neymar posted: “Black Lives Matter”.
Both players were prominent in the heated discussions on the touchline.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote on Twitter that he “strongly condemn the racist remarks,” while Romanian-born French Minister of Sports Roxanna Maracineanu praised the players’ “historic decision.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
Basaksehir midfielder Giuliano told Brazilian media: The comment “was very clear, many people heard, including our coach. It was disgraceful.”
“As a team and a group, we decided to protest because that is unacceptable. Racism has to end,” Giuliano said.
The row blew up after Webo was shown a red card. Television microphones in the empty Parc des Princes then picked up a furious Webo repeatedly asking why a racist term had been used to describe him.
In the exchange in question between the all-Romanian officiating team, Coltescu said: “The black one over there. This is not possible. Go and identify him. That guy, the black one.”
Basaksehir’s Senegal international striker Demba Ba, among the substitutes for the away side, could be heard remonstrating with the official, saying in English: “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?’”
UEFA promised a “thorough investigation” into the incident.
European soccer’s governing body said that it had “decided on an exceptional basis to have the remaining minutes of the match played with a new team of match officials.”
UEFA’s regulations for the Champions League stipulate that, normally, any team refusing to play must forfeit the game and also face a fine of 250,000 euros (US$303,000).
Danny Makkelie of the Netherlands was named as the referee for the remainder of the game, with the other officials from the Netherlands and Poland. They replace Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan, his two assistants and Coltescu.
The president of the Turkish champions said that his side refused to 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,” Goksel Gumusdag told Turkish television channel TRT Spor.
Basaksehir responded to the incidents by tweeting “NO TO RACISM #Respect,” along with a photograph of UEFA’s anti-racism logo.
The message was retweeted by PSG, who later tweeted their support on their English-language feed.
“All forms of racism go against the values held by Paris Saint-Germain, the club’s Chairman, staff and players,” the French champions wrote.
Despite the interruption of the match, played behind closed doors because of the COVID-19 pandemic, PSG qualified for the last 16 from Group H after RB Leipzig beat Manchester United 3-2 in Germany.
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
RSS