PSG beat Basaksehir to win Champions League group
Paris Saint-Germain defeat Istanbul Basaksehir 5-1 on Wednesday with Neymar scoring a hat-trick as both teams took a good knee before restarting their Champions Group match suspended a day earlier within an unprecedented protest over an allegedly racist comment by a good match official.
The teams, who had joined up with forces on Tuesday to walk off the pitch following the row, collected around the centre circle ahead of the resumption and were joined by the meet officials because they kneeled to get the Black Lives Subject cause.
Before that they sported t-shirts with the slogan "Simply no To Racism" while starting to warm up at the Parc des Princes, where large banners in the empty stands carried the same message.
The overall game restarted where it had stopped the previous day, in the 14th minute, when a touchline argument erupted over accusations the Romanian fourth official, Sebastian Coltescu, had described Basaksehir's Cameroonian assistant coach Pierre Webo as "black", or "negru" in Romanian.
Coltescu and the other Romanian meet officials were replaced for the restart by a new refereeing team headed by the Netherlands' Danny Makkelie.
Already qualified going back 16 because of Manchester United's defeat to RB Leipzig on Germany on Tuesday, PSG still had a need to win the restarted game to secure top spot in their group and cruised to victory with Neymar fantastic.
- Neymar hat-trick -
He curled in a good stunning opener before making it 2-0 and won a good penalty which Kylian Mbappe converted for the 3rd goal before half-time.
Neymar, the world's priciest footballer, completed his hat-trick with another fantastic hit after the interval, and Mbappe got PSG's fifth following a reply by Mehmet Topal for Basaksehir.
The Turkish side had already been eliminated before this game nonetheless they have left their tag on the Champions League with their response to the alleged treatment of Webo, who was simply sent off as he reacted furiously to the alleged comment.
That red card was suspended by UEFA pending a probe in to the subject, with European football's governing body promising a "thorough investigation".
Basaksehir are understood to have close ties to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and he got involved in the row on Tuesday, tweeting that he "strongly condemns the racist remarks".
France's sports activities minister Roxana Maracineanu, who was simply born in Romania, praised the players' "historic decision".
It had been an unprecedented, unified response by the teams, to what Basaksehir midfielder Giuliano called a good "disgraceful" comment from the official.
"As a workforce and an organization, we made a decision to protest because that's unacceptable. Racism must end," Giuliano told Brazilian media.
The row flared after Webo was demonstrated the red card.
Television microphones found in the empty stadium -- matches are taking place without spectators as a result of Covid-19 restrictions -- found a good furious Webo repeatedly asking so why a racist term have been used to spell it out him.
In the exchange in question between the all-Romanian officiating team, Coltescu said: "The black one over there. This is simply not possible. Go and determine him. That guy, the dark-colored one."
Basaksehir's Senegalese forwards Demba Ba, among the substitutes for the apart side, could possibly be heard remonstrating with the state in English, telling: "When you mention a good white dude, you never state 'this white dude', you merely say 'this guy', so why when you mention a good black guy do you claim 'this black guy?'"
- 'Disturbing tipping point' -
The incident drew reaction from all over the world, with Rio Ferdinand, the former Manchester United and England defender and today a TV pundit, saying on BT Sport in the UK: "I think we are at a disturbing tipping point. Not really a week runs by without an incident involving race.
"The players walking away is a part of the right direction, nonetheless it can't just be left to them."
Ferdinand's brother Anton was involved with a high-account incident in 2012 when Chelsea person John Terry was accused of racially abusing him during a match in England.
Many athletes took a strong stand against racism since Dark-colored Lives Matter protests flared around the world above the death of George Floyd during his arrest on Minneapolis in May.
The Turkish champions had refused to restart the game on Tuesday so long as fourth official Coltescu was nonetheless involved.
