PSG and Basaksehir walkout deepens football racism row

PARIS: The unprecedented walkout of Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir players over an alleged racist comment by a Champions League official sparked a new row about racism in football on Wednesday.

Both teams left the pitch on Tuesday after a touchline argument erupted when the Romanian fourth official, Sebastian Coltescu, appeared to describe Basaksehir assistant coach Pierre Webo, a former Cameroon international player, as “black”, or “negru” in Romanian.

The group game in Paris, which was goalless at the time, was suspended and was to resume on Wednesday where it left off, in the 14th minute, with a different set of officials.

PSG forward 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.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is understood to be close to Basaksehir’s owners, tweeted that he “strongly condemns the racist remarks”, while France’s sports minister Roxana Maracineanu, who was born in Romania, praised the players’ “historic decision”.

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.”

The row flared after Webo was shown a red card. Television microphones in the empty Parc des Princes stadium—matches are taking place without spectators because of Covid-19 restrictions—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 Senegalese forward Demba Ba, among the substitutes for the away side, could be heard remonstrating with the official in English, 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?’”

European football’s governing body UEFA promised a “thorough investigation”.

The French government’s spokesman Gabriel Attal condemned all racism in sport and commended the “solidarity” shown by both teams.

Many athletes have taken a strong stand against racism since Black Lives Matter protests flared around the world over the death of George Floyd during his arrest in Minneapolis in May.