December 10 – Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir players took a knee and wore ‘No to racism’ t-shirts before their rescheduled Champions League game on Wednesday, 24 hours after the original fixture was abandoned after 14 minutes when both teams walked off in protest after the Turkish club accused a match official of racism.
Before the rescheduled game, both sets of players, as well as the newly appointed match officials, knelt together around the centre circle as the Champions League anthem played, the vast majority of them also raising their fists.
Players and the coaching staff from both sides wore special t-shirts with the words ‘NO TO RACISM’ emblazoned on the front, along with the badges of both clubs. UEFA also ordered banners to be placed in the stands of the empty Parc des Princes bearing the same message.
Tuesday’s fixture was halted when both teams walked off the pitch in protest after Romanian fourth official Sebastian Colţescu was accused of making an alleged racist comment towards Basaksehir assistant coach Pierre Webo, who is Cameroonian.
After being shown a red card for protesting a refeering decision, Webo could be heard over the broadcast of French channel RMC Sport repeatedly asking: “Why [did] you say negro?” and pointing at Colţescu.
A new set of officials took charge on Wednesday, with Dutchman Danny Makkelie appointed referee.
PSG striking star Kylian Mbappe – whose two goals in the 5-1 win meant he became the youngest player to score 20 goals in the Champions League – said it was time for action.
“Of course, I am proud of what was done. A lot of things were said but, in fact, there’s nothing better than actions,” he told reporters. “We are tired, we don’t want to go through this (racism incidents) again. We’re all human beings and this was intolerable. People are fed up and we had to do something.
“We were not disappointed not to play (the original game). We made that decision. We were proud. The more you let these things slide, the more you’re led to believe that it’s normal. But no, it’s not normal.”
Basaksehir coach Okan Buruk was quoted as saying: “The referee should have dealt with the situation but he didn’t and we had to show that we stood with Webo. The decision was made by the players. Some wanted to go back to the pitch but we stuck together as a team and it was eventually a team decision. We showed the entire world that we are united.”
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