Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir’s Champions League tie was suspended after players from both sides walked off the pitch on Tuesday, alleging a match official used a racial slur against the Turkish side’s assistant coach.
Players from the Turkish team were furious, saying fourth official Sebastian Coltescu of Romania had used a racist term against assistant coach Pierre Webo, who is from Cameroon, before he was sent off with a red card at Parc des Princes. Match referee Ovidiu Hategan of Romania had shown Webo the red card.
Basaksehir substitute Demba Ba demanded that Coltescu explain himself, while PSG players Neymar and Kylian Mbappe also demanded an explanation.
Basaksehir coach Okan Buruk said “You are racist” to Coltescu. The score was 0-0 when the incident took place about 15 minutes into the match.
A UEFA statement said that after consultation with both teams, the match would restart soon with a different official. “UEFA will thoroughly investigate the matter and further communication will be made in due course,” the statement said.
