Soccer

Players walk off in PSG-Istanbul match as official accused of racism

Fourth official accused of using racist language during Champions League tie in Paris

Istanbul Basaksehir’s Demba Ba talks to referee after the game was suspended amid allegations of racism by one of the match officials. Photograph: Getty Images

Tue Dec 8 2020 - 22:29

Istanbul Basaksehir's players left the pitch during their Champions League Group H game at Paris St Germain after the Turkish club accused a match official of racism.

Basaksehir's assistant coach Pierre Webo was red-carded in the 13th minute by an assistant referee and the Turkish side then walked off the pitch after about 10 minutes of discussions with Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan. PSG also left the pitch.

“Our assistant coach, Pierre Webo has been sent off with a ‘racist’ word by the 4th official ref. of the match. Match has stopped for a while,” Istanbul Basaksehir said on the club’s official Twitter feed.

The State-owned Anadolu news agency quoted the Basaksehir club’s president as saying the players would not go back onto the field as long as the fourth referee was still there.

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“Following an alleged incident involving the 4th official, the match was temporarily suspended,” Uefa said in a statement.

“After consultation with both teams, it was agreed that the match would restart with a different 4th official.

“UEFA will thoroughly investigate the matter and further communication will be made in due course.”

After almost two hours of a suspension, the match was finally abandoned at close to 11.30pm local time.

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