10 December,2020 07:49 AM IST | Paris | AFP
Basaksehiru00c3u00a2u00c2u0080u00c2u0099s assistant manager (right) argues with the fourth official (left) on Tuesday. Pic/Getty Images
PSG and Istanbul Basaksehir staged an unprecedented joint walk-out over alleged racism by a Champions League match official on Tuesday, prompting UEFA to suspend the game and launch an investigation.
Both teams left the pitch after a lengthy touchline row which erupted when the Romanian fourth official, Sebastian Coltescu, appeared to describe Basaksehir assistant coach Pierre Webo, the former Cameroon international, as black, or negru in Romanian.
The group game in Paris, which was goalless at the time, was suspended and will resume where it left off, in the 14th minute, with a different set of match officials.
The row blew up after Webo was shown a red card. TV microphones in the empty Parc des Princes stadium then picked up a furious Webo repeatedly asking why a racist term had been used to describe him.
In the exchange in question between the all-Romanian officiating team, Coltescu said: "The black one over there. This is not possible. Go and identify him. That guy, the black one."
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