Basaksehir want Romanian official banned for life over racist remark

Istanbul, Dec 10, 2020 (AFP) - The president of Istanbul Basaksehir has called for a lifetime ban on a Romanian official who was accused of making a racist remark which sparked a mass player walkout in the club's Champions League match with Paris Saint-Germain.

Fourth official Sebastian Coltescu had described Basaksehir's Cameroonian assistant coach Pierre Webo as "black", or "negru" in Romanian, in Tuesday's game in Paris.

"This type of referee should be banned for life," Basaksehir president Goksel Gumusdag told Turkish media.

"They should make an example of him."

Basaksehir's Senegal international striker Demba Ba, among the substitutes for the away side, could be heard remonstrating with the official, saying in English: "When you mention a white guy, you never say 'this white guy', you just say 'this guy', so why when you mention a black guy do you say 'this black guy?'"

The game was 14 minutes old and the scores 0-0 when the match was stopped and the players walked off.

UEFA promised a "thorough investigation" into the incident.

The game restarted on Wednesday with players taking a knee and wearing anti-racism T-shirts before PSG won 5-1.