UEFA opens disciplinary proceedings over incident in Paris

By Simon Evans

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings over Tuesday’s Champions League match between Paris St Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir after players walked out of the stadium in protest after the Turkish club accused a match official of racism.

European soccer’s governing body said on Wednesday that it had appointed an ethics and disciplinary inspector to “conduct a disciplinary investigation into the incident.”

A disciplinary investigation can lead to sanctions and match officials are subject to UEFA’s disciplinary rules, which are regularly used to punish clubs and players.

The incident was sparked when Basaksehir’s assistant coach Pierre Webo was shown a red card for protesting a referee’s decision, and the Turkish team then claimed that Romanian fourth official Sebastian Coltescu had used a racist epithet towards the Cameroonian.

The players from both teams left the field after about ten minutes of discussions with the Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan, a first in European football. The game, which was suspended after 13 minutes, will finish at 17:55 GMT on Wednesday with new match officials.

Television footage showed the fourth official telling Coltescu in Romanian: “That black guy over there.” Go and check who he is. “That black man over there, you can’t behave like that,” after Webo vehemently protested against a referee’s decision.

“Why does he say Negro?” Basaksehir substitute Demba Ba repeatedly asked match referee Hategan as confusion reigned on the sidelines in the Group H match. The Romanian word for black is “negru”.

“The words we have all heard have no place in football, even more so because referees set the standard for compliance with rules and balance on the field,” Razvan Burleanu, president of the Romanian Football Federation (FRF), told the Romanian sports news website ProSport.

“As an association, we not only respect UEFA’s values ​​of social inclusion, anti-racism and the prevention of hate incitement, we also promote them.”

“If it turns out to be racism, there will be no understanding on my part. However, we must wait for all the actual details of this incident before drawing conclusions,” Burleanu added.

“It doesn’t seem to have been intended to offend, I think that’s obvious. The UEFA report will clarify the incident and the extent of the culpability of those involved.”

Reuters reached out to the FRF for comment from match officials but did not receive an immediate response.

“We cannot make a statement, we have to talk to UEFA first,” Romanian sports news website ProSport.ro quoted referee Ovidiu Hategan as saying to europe1.fr.

“Normally I would have answered you, but not tonight. We are obviously heartbroken, but please respect our silence.”

“Players are fed up”

Romanian Sports Minister Ionut Stroe apologized for the incident.

“We strongly condemn any statement that could be viewed as racist or discriminatory,” Stroe told television station Digi24.

“I apologize on behalf of Romanian sport for this unfortunate incident. It was a single incident, it does not represent Romanian sport.”

“The UEFA investigation will tell us what really happened and then action will be taken. I don’t think this will lead to a diplomatic scandal, we all condemn such an incident. Such unfortunate language will be sanctioned.”

“I wish the language used was harmless or neutral, but we cannot tolerate such behavior. We will have discussions on how to resolve this situation,” he added.

Piara Powar, chief executive of anti-racism monitoring and campaigning group Fare, said: “This incident shows that much better training is needed for match officials.” Unintentional racism is still racism. If officials cannot set standards through their own behavior, they cannot be relied upon to address racism on the field or in the stands.”

Powar said the walk-off showed the sentiment among the players regarding racism issues.

“The joint departure of Basaksehir and PSG sets an example in Europe. “Many players are fed up with half-measures against racism and are more prepared than ever to exercise their right to stop a game,” he added.

Noel Le Graet, president of the French Football Federation, praised the players for leaving the pitch.

“I would like to pay tribute to the attitude of the two teams, who made a strong and exemplary decision by leaving the pitch. These unacceptable incidents have no place in a stadium,” he said.

UEFA has appointed Dutch referee Danny Makkelie as referee for Wednesday’s restarted game, while Poland’s Bartosz Frankowski is the fourth official.

(Reporting by Simon Evans in Manchester, Julien Pretot in Paris, Luiza Ilie in Bucharest, Editing by Christian Radnedge)