Basaksehir stage walk off during PSG Champions League clash over alleged racism

Robin Bairner

Istanbul Basaksehir walked off during their Champions League meeting with Paris Saint-Germain over an alleged racist incident.

With 14 minutes of the match gone, Basaksehir assistant boss Pierre Webo was sent off. The former Cameroon international, however, accused the Romanian fourth official of using a racist word as he was dismissed.

What followed was a delay of more than 10 minutes in which the Turkish side refused to play on.

Ultimately, they elected to walk down the tunnel back to the dressing room, with their opponents following.

There was no score in the game when the incident occurred, though the action on the field had been rather tetchy, with two visiting players booked.

Shortly afterwards, the club's official social media account posted a 'No To Racism' banner that contained UEFA's 'Respect' logo.

After play had been paused for an hour, UEFA released a statement indicating: "Following an alleged incident involving the 4th official, the match was temporarily suspended. After consultation with both teams, it was agreed that the match would restart with a different fourth official.

"UEFA will thoroughly investigate the matter and further communication will be made in due course."

There is nothing riding on the match for the Super Lig side, who have already been eliminated from the competition, having picked up only three points from their five fixtures to date. As such, they are stuck on three points, six behind the other three teams in the group going into matchday five.

They did notably defeat Manchester United, however. Goals from Demba Ba and Edin Visca gave them a shock victory over the Old Trafford club that helped to blow the group open.

Indeed, they have been a competitive force in their home games, losing to two Moise Kean goals against the Ligue 1 champions and suffering a last-gasp 4-3 defeat to Leipzig last week, despite a hat-trick from Irfan Kahveci.

Meanwhile, PSG are virtually through. The Parisians can only be knocked out if they suffer a defeat and the encounter between RB Leipzig and Manchester United ends in a draw.

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