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PARIS. — Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League game with Istanbul Basaksehir was suspended on Tuesday night as both sets of players walked off amid allegations of racism by the fourth official, in an unprecedented incident in European football’s elite club competition.

Demba Ba led Istanbul Basaksehir and Paris Saint-Germain off the pitch in protest after his assistant manager Pierre Webo was allegedly racially abused by the fourth official during a Champions League match on Tuesday night.

The Group H encounter was sus­pended midway through a goalless first half after allegations were made against Romanian match official Sebastian Coltescu.

Play was initially suspended for almost two hours after a row initi­ated in the 14th minute when Pierre Webo, Basaksehir’s assistant coach, was sent off.

After a long delay at Parc des Princes, the game was eventually abandoned with Istanbul saying that the players took the decision not to return after Webo had “been exposed to racist behaviour”.

The match was rescheduled for late last night with a new refereeing team in charge.

Cameroonian Webo was initially shown a red card, in the 16th minute, by referee Ovidiu Hategan after he was singled out by Coltescu for saying something out of turn from the bench.

It was then that an incensed Ba, a substitute on the night, confronted the official, with Istanbul later alleging in a tweet that a “racist word” was said to Webo.

The former Chelsea striker could be heard saying: “You never say ‘this white guy’, you say ‘this guy’, so why when you’re mentioning him… listen to me . . . why when you mention a black guy, why do you say ‘this black guy’.”

In a video that has since emerged, Webo appears to be heard asking the official why he said “negru”, which is Romanian for black.

As players come together in an attempt to defuse the situation, Basaksehir coach Okan Buruk could be heard yelling “you are racist” to Coltescu.

As things became more heated on the sidelines, players from both teams walked off in protest.

It is understood the Istanbul play­ers insisted they would not return if Coltescu was still officiating, with Basaksehir club president reportedly telling Turkish TV: “If the fourth referee who is racist stays on the field, we will not play”.

According to French outlet RMC, Demba Ba and PSG star Marquinhos initially planned for both teams to walk back out onto the pitch “hold­ing hands”.

But in the end as the clock ticked past 10pm, Istanbul’s players decided they would NOT return to the pitch and were seen heading to their team bus.

PSG icon Mbappe later posted on Twitter “SAY NO TO RACISM. M.WEBO WE ARE WITH YOU”.

Mbappe’s team-mate Neymar uploaded a picture of himself and wrote “BLACK LIVES MATTER”.

While Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote on Twitter: “We are unconditionally against rac­ism and discrimination in sports and in all areas of life.”

Tayyip Erdogan said he “strongly” condemned the incident, while Uefa announced it would open a “thorough investigation”.

Uefa confirmed they are investigat­ing the incident, saying in a statement: “An ethics and disciplinary inspector has been appointed to conduct a dis­ciplinary investigation regarding the incident and the events that led to the Uefa Champions League group match Paris St-Germain v Istanbul Basaksehir being abandoned.”

Uefa said Webo’s red card has been “frozen” while the investigation con­tinues, allowing him to take his place on the bench when the match resumed at 7:55pm last night.

Webo’s cousin Patrick Suffo, who was a forward for Sheffield United and Coventry, says he was “very proud” of the actions of Webo, as well as the two sets of players for coming off the pitch.

“It is one of those situations where you have to make a big statement and it was the perfect occasion to highlight the problems we have had in football for years,” former Cameroon interna­tional Suffo told BBC World Service.

“We have been fighting it for years without avail. A few people are still living in the 1950s.

“This happened on a bigger stage and it will make people even more aware of the situation. I was proud of how it was handled by Pierre and the other players.

“They made sure no-one was sin­gled out and they chose to leave the pitch together.”

Coltescu is a top-flight referee in Romania, but is reportedly officiating in his final European campaign after being demoted by FIFA.

On Tuesday night he apologised, saying: “Sorry for the misunderstand­ing. My intention was never racism.

“In such an environment, people sometimes cannot express their feel­ings correctly and can be misunder­stood. I apologise on behalf of the UEFA Champions League. I hope you understand.”

Such was the outrage at the inci­dent, Colltescu apparently had his Instagram account hacked.

His profile picture was replaced by an image of Webo, whom Coltescu allegedly identified by using the word “negru”, the Romanian word for black. The hackers, who appeared to be Turk­ish, also changed the Romanian ref­eree’s biography to include a “No to Racism” hashtag.

Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo scored two penalties as Juventus blew away Lionel Messi’s struggling Barce­lona 3-0 to wrest first place in Group G away from the Spanish giants.

Lazio also secured a spot in the knockout rounds for the first time in two decades following a tense 2-2 draw at home to Club Brugge in the pouring rain in Rome.

Requiring just a point to advance, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side fell behind to an Angelino goal inside two min­utes in Germany. Amadou Haidara soon added a second and United and were trailing 3-0 heading into the final quarter after a Justin Kluivert strike.

Bruno Fernandes’s penalty and a deflected Paul Pogba header gave United a lifeline but Leipzig, who reached the semi-finals last term, held on to move top of Group H on 12 points.

Andrea Pirlo’s Juventus avenged a 2-0 home loss to Barcelona in Octo­ber when Ronaldo was sidelined with Covid-19, heaping more pressure on Barca coach Ronald Koeman.

Weston McKennie scored in between Ronaldo’s two spot-kicks at the Camp Nou as Barca, off to their worst LaLiga start in 33 years, were denied a sixth win from six in Europe.

Denys Popov’s header earned Dynamo Kiev a 1-0 victory over their former star Serhiy Rebrov and Fer­encvaros in the group’s other game, offering them a place in the Europa League.

Borussia Dortmund striker Yous­soufa Moukoko, aged 16 years and 18 days, became the youngest player in Champions League history as he came off the bench in a 2-1 victory away to Zenit Saint Petersburg.

Cameroon-born Moukoko, who made his European debut as a 58th-minute substitute in Russia, broke the previous record of Celestine Baba­yaro, who was 16 years and 87 days when he played for Anderlecht in November 1994.

Dortmund, who had already qual­ified for the last 16, equalised within minutes of Moukoko’s introduction, with Lukasz Piszczek cancelling out Sebastian Driussi’s first-half goal before Axel Witsel scored the winner.

Jorginho spared Chelsea’s blushes as his penalty rescued a 1-1 draw against Krasnodar in Group E following Remy Cabella’s opener in London.

Frank Lampard’s side were already assured of finishing top, while goals from Jules Kounde and two Youssef En-Nesyri eased Sevilla to a 3-1 victory at Rennes. — AFP.