PSG v Basaksehir player walk-off: Uefa bans race row fourth official

European football's governing body Uefa has suspended a match official until the end of the season and ordered him to attend an awareness course following his involvement in a race row incident during a Champions League match between Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir.

Uefa suspended Sebastian Coltescu (second left) from officiating at matches until the end of the season following an incident during the Champions League group stage game between Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir. FRANCK FIFE AFP

Less than 15 minutes into the group stage encounter at the Parc des Princes in December, Basaksehir’s assistant coach Pierre Webo claimed the fourth official Sebastian Coltescu had disrespected him by referring to him as “the black one” when pointing him out to the referee Ovidiu Hagetan.

Tempers had been rising in the Turkish ranks after Hagetan had shown yellow cards to Basaksehir skipper Mahmut Tekdemir, defender Rafael as well as coach Okan Buruk in quick succession.

Webo, a former Cameroon international, appeared to be venting his fury about the decisions from the stands and was shown a red card after Hagetan consulted Coltescu.

Words

In the exchange in Romanian, Coltescu allegedly said: "The black one over there. This is not possible. Go and identify him. That guy, the black one."

Television microphones at the empty stadium picked up a furious Webo repeatedly asking why a racist term had been used to describe him.

Basaksehir's Senegalese striker Demba Ba started remonstrating with Coltescu in English and his teammates joined in the argument.

As Hagetan tried to restore order, PSG's players - led by the Brazil international Neymar - weighed in.

Despite the arrival of a Uefa match supervisor, the teams returned to the dressing rooms.

Nearly two hours later Uefa announced the game had been abandoned. It was rescheduled for the following day with a new team of officials as match monitors launched an inquiry into what transpired on sidelines.

Uefa said in a statement on Monday night that Coltescu had been suspended for what it described as inappropriate behaviour during a match. It added he had to attend his educational programme before 30 June.

PSG eventually won the game 5-1 and advanced to the last 16 as winners of Group H.

They play Barcelona on Wednesday night at the Parc des Princes holding a 4-1 lead from the last-16 first leg at the Camp Nou.

In his victory speech on Sunday, Joan Laporta, the newly elected Barcelona president, exhorted the team to go for glory in Paris.