Paris St Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir game rescheduled after players walk off amid racism allegations
Paris St Germain’s clash with Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir has been rescheduled for Wednesday after both players walked off the pitch amid allegations of racism.
Tuesday's match was suspended after the two sides left the field less than 25 minutes into their group game in the Champions League.
In a tweet, Istanbul Basaksehir alleged their assistant coach Pierre Webo was "exposed to racist behaviour by the fourth official".
Basaksehir later tweeted “No to racism” with emojis of a black and a white hand.
The club then announced that their players would not be reappearing to complete the match.
PSG tweeted their support for their opposition: "After a red card is given by the referee to a member of opposition staff, discussions continue between players and staff of both teams with the referee."
“The Basaksehir players decide to go back to the locker room, the Parisians follow them.”
Video footage has since emerged which appears to show Webo accusing the fourth official of using racist language.
Further footage emerged showing Basaksehir striker Demba Ba appearing to argue with the fourth official on the touchline.
The former Chelsea forward appeared to question the official over his choice of language when referring to players, before being ushered away.
In the clip Ba can be heard asking: "Why, when you mention a black guy, do you have to say this black guy?"
Governing body UEFA released a brief statement announcing the game would proceed with a replacement fourth official and that it would launch an investigation into the incident.
UEFA initially issued a statement saying the match was "temporarily suspended" but later confirmed soon the fixture would be completed on Wednesday following consultation with both clubs.
The governing body said: “Following an incident at tonight’s UEFA Champions League match between Paris St Germain FC and Istanbul Basaksehir FK, UEFA has – after discussion with both clubs – decided on an exceptional basis to have the remaining minutes of the match played tomorrow with a new team of match officials. The kick-off has been set at 18:55 CET.
“A thorough investigation on the incident that took place will be opened immediately.”
Over the weekend, fans at two British clubs booed their own sides for taking the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign.
The long-awaited return of supporters was overshadowed by the incidents ahead of games for Millwall and Colchester respectively.