PSG-Başakşehir match suspended amid alleged racism
ISTANBUL
UEFA Champions League match between France's Paris Saint-Germain and Turkey's Medipol Başakşehir late on Dec. 9 was paused after an alleged racist remark targeting the Turkish club's technical staff.
In the 17th minute of the match at Parc des Princes, Başakşehir assistant manager Pierre Webo from Cameroon argued with the referee of the match about a position.
But the fourth official warned the referee to sent him off. Webo claimed that he faced a racist remark from the 4th official. The Turkish team went to the dressing room to protest the official.
Following the incident, Başakşehir's chairman Göksel Gümüşdağ said that the Turkish team will not return from dressing room if 4th official stays on the pitch amid alleged racist remarks against Webo.
Gümüşdağ added that the fourth official was discharged from his duty for Wednesday's game.
Many Turkish clubs, Turkey's Football Federation, also Paris Saint Germain retweeted and showed support for Başakşehir's "No To Racism" tweet, protesting the incident.
Başakşehir football club said players refuse to play in PSG game amid racist remarks by 4th official against assistant manager Webo.
Başakşehir's CEO Mustafa Eröğüt said the match will resume on Wednesday evening, all four officials of the game will be changed.
Turkey slams racist remarks
The Turkish president and ministers slammed the racist act against Webo.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on social media 'strongly' condemns racist remarks by 4th official against Başakşehir's Pierre Webo during PSG match.
Erdoğan added that Turkey is unconditionally against racism and discrimination in sports and all the fields in life.
In addition the Turkish foreign minister said on Twitter that he backs Başakşehir football team's honorable stance as the Turkish team left the pitch over this incident.
"NO TO RACISM!," Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu added.
The Turkish Youth and Sports Minister Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoğlu also criticized the fourth official for his racist remarks.
"Racism is a crime against humanity. We are standing by our team Başakşehir #Respect #NoToRacism," Kasapoğlu tweeted.
Meanwhile the other Turkish clubs Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş said on Twitter that they are all against racism and support Webo each.
PSG club, players back Webo
Paris Saint-Germain's French star Kylian Mbappe tweeted: "SAY NO TO RACISM. M.WEBO WE ARE WITH YOU." on his post, while the team's 25-year-old French defender Presnel Kimpembe sent out a tweet, saying: "No to racism."
Başakşehir also tweeted that they are against racism and shared UEFA's "No to racism" campaign's banner as Paris Saint-Germain has retweeted this post to back Webo.
Racism is still one of the major global problems in sports as FIFA and European football governing body UEFA have been fighting against it.
In recent years, UEFA released a video to raise awareness about racism, with many football stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and
Zlatan Ibrahimovic joining the "No to Racism" campaign.