Yesterday’s Romanian referee quartet (see below) was replaced by Dutchmen for this return. They knelt before the match was restarted along with the players of PSG and Basaksehir.
Before the match, all players had already warmed up with a shirt with the slogan “No to racism”. Pierre Webo, Basaksehir’s assistant, watched with emotion from the sidelines. Webo was labeled a racist term by the referees yesterday, after which the uproar started. UEFA temporarily lifted the suspension for the Cameroonian, so that he could still be there.
The match itself wasn’t exactly a fair showdown. The tandem Neymar-Mbappé rolled the Turks, where Chadli and Bolingoli came in, with 3 and 2 goals respectively. PSG thus becomes group winner and pushes through together with Leipzig. Manchester United is going to the Europa League, Basaksehir was already eliminated.
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Much is not yet officially known about the incident. Like the reason why Pierre Webo, assistant at Basaksehir, got a red card from the referee. Webo then accused the 4th official of racism.
“Why do you say negro?”, Webo shouted to Sebastian Coltescu several times. The 4th ref should have identified Webo to referee Hategan and should have him negro of black mentioned. Negru is Romanian for black and is less charged than negro or “negro”. “But why do you have to say black,” asked bench seat Demba Ba in a heated discussion?
The UEFA supervisor tried to refute the situation, but some players from Basaksehir had already decided to visit the catacombs. After a short discussion, their teammates and the players of PSG also followed.
Shortly after the incident, Basaksehir’s Twitter account sent out the slogan “No to racism”, one of the hobby horses of the European Football Association. The chairman announced that Basaksehir, where Chadli and Bolingoli started on the bench, will not resume the match as long as the 4th ref remains present.
In the end, the players of Basaksehir did not enter the field anymore: the game will resume on Wednesday evening at 18:55 from the 14th minute. PSG is already certain of the qualification, but can still become group winner with a victory. A new referee team has been called up for the match, led by the Dutch ref Danny Makkelie.
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The European Football Association UEFA is not light on the incident. It announces a “thorough investigation”. “Racism and discrimination in all its forms have no place in football,” said UEFA.
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