Wednesday 24 / April / 2024
Paris: The Champions League Group H clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir was postponed on Tuesday after the Turkish side walked off the pitch in the first half, alleging that the club's assistant coach had been racially abused.
Basakeshir alleged that the club's assistant coach was racially abused by the fourth official. Both PSG and Basaksehir walked off the pitch and as a result, the match postponed, Goal.com reported. The match between these two sides will now resume later today from the 14th minute, with the scoreline being 0-0.
"UEFA is aware of an incident during Champions League match between Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir and will be conducting a thorough investigation. Racism, and discrimination in all its forms, has no place within football," said UEFA in an official statement.
"UEFA has - after discussion with both clubs - decided on an exceptional basis to have the remaining minutes of the match played on Wednesday with a new team of match officials," it added.
After the opening 15 minutes of the match between PSG and Basaksehir, the game was thrown into turmoil as a pitchside altercation played out. Basaksehir's assistant Pierre Webo was seen having a heated argument with the fourth official, who had instructed the referee to send Webo off after he protested a call on the pitch.
As per Goal.com, Webo and his club then accused the fourth official of racial abuse in how he identified the Basaksehir assistant to the match referee.
"In the Paris Saint Germain match, our footballers decided not to go on the field due to the racism that the fourth referee Sebastian Coltescu had against our assistant coach Pierre Webo," Basakeshir clarified on its Twitter account.
PSG players like Presnel Kimpembe, Kylian Mbappe also expressed solidarity with their opponents. Both the players clarified their stance on Twitter.
