UEFA begins investigation against match officials accused of racial comments during PSG-Istanbul Basaksehir Champions League tie

Lausanne: UEFA announced on Thursday it is opening an investigation against match officials after alleged racism during December’s Champions League encounter between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Istanbul Basaksehir. The meeting was stopped, and then finished a day later, after a touchline argument erupted over accusations the Romanian fourth official, Sebastian Coltescu, had described Basaksehir’s Cameroonian assistant coach Pierre Webo as “black”, or “negru” in Romanian. Coltescu and the other Romanian officials were replaced for the restart by a new refereeing team headed by the Netherlands’ Danny Makkelie. The game took place 24 hours later with players taking a knee and wearing anti-racism T-shirts before PSG won 5-1. “Following an investigation conducted by a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector regarding the events that led to the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League match between Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir FK on 8 December 2020 being abandoned, proceedings have been opened against Mr. Sebastian Constantin Coltescu and Mr. Octavian Sovre for a potential violation of Article 11 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations,” the European governing body said. “Further information about this case will be made available once the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body has taken a decision in due course,” it added. After the fixture UEFA promised a “thorough investigation” into the incident. The Turkish club’s president Goksel Gumusdag called for Coltescu to be handed a life ban for the remarks.