Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned "racist statements" in the group stage match of the Champions League between the French and Turkish football clubs Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir
ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th December, 2020) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned "racist statements" in the group stage match of the Champions League between the French and Turkish football clubs Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir.
The Group H match in Paris was interrupted in the 16th minute. One of the decisions of the chief referee, Ovidiu Hategan, caused an emotional reaction on the bench of the Turkish club. The referee asked an assistant for clarification, who pointed to Demba Ba, calling the player "negru". One of the meanings of this word translated from Romanian is "black". This caused a reaction from the entire team, including an assistant coach, ex-Cameroon team player Pierre Webo. According to the official account of the Turkish club on Twitter, the fourth referee insulted the Cameroonian on racial grounds too.
Both teams eventually left the pitch. AFP later reported that the game would be completed on December 9.
"I strongly condemn the racist remarks against Pierre Webo from the Basaksehir technical team and I believe that UEFA will take the necessary steps. We stand unconditionally against racism and discrimination in sports and in all spheres of life," Erdogan wrote on Twitter.
Omer Celik, a spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development Party and Turkish Presidency Communications Director Fahrettin Altun has called the incident a crime.
"Congratulations to Basaksehir that has taken up a position of honor. Racism is a crime against humanity. Sports and racism shouldn't go together," Celik said on Twitter.
The Turkish Football Federation said that it would be following the investigation into the incident and expressed hope that all those responsible would be punished.
