PSG vs Istanbul Basaksehir to restart on Wednesday after players walk off due to alleged racism by official

1/9
Tom Doyle8 December 2020

Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir will complete Tuesday night’s Champions League match on Wednesday after players from both clubs walked off the pitch during the first half 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, with the home side following them off.

It came after a red card was shown to one of Basaksehir's staff, apparently assistant manager Pierre Webo, with video footage emerging which appeared to show the Cameroonian accusing the fourth official of using racist language.

Basaksehir posted a message on their Twitter account which read: "NO TO RACISM #Respect."

Video footage also showed Basaksehir striker Demba Ba remonstrating with the fourth official, Romanian Sebastian Coltescu, on the touchline.

Governing body Uefa said in a statement that the game would continue with a replacement fourth official, but more than an hour after the players left the pitch, it had still not done so.

Uefa confirmed soon after that the fixture would be completed on Wednesday with a different set of match officials following consultation with both clubs, while an investigation will be launched into the events.

The governing body said: "Following an incident at tonight's Uefa Champions League match between Paris St Germain FC and Istanbul Basaksehir FK, Uefa has - after discussion with both clubs - decided on an exceptional basis to have the remaining minutes of the match played tomorrow with a new team of match officials. The kick-off has been set at 18:55 CET (5:55pm GMT).

"A thorough investigation on the incident that took place will be opened immediately."

REUTERS

Additional reporting by PA.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in