Fourth Official Involved In Alleged Racist Incident During PSG Vs Istanbul Basaksehir Breaks His Silence

The fourth official involved in the alleged racist incident during Paris Saint-Germain vs Istanbul Basaksehir has spoken for the first time.

It has been claimed Sebastian Coltescu aimed a racist remark at Istanbul assistant manager Pierre Webo, who was sent off for his reaction, during the game on Tuesday evening.

Both sets of players walked off the pitch and refused to continue, resulting in the game being abandoned.

According to Romanian outlet ProSport per Marca, the 43-year-old has told family: "I just try to be good. I'm not going to read any news sites these next few days.

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"Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not racist! At least that's what I hope."

Romania's minister of sport, Ionut Stroe, made a statement following the game which read: "We strongly condemn any expression or declaration that could be considered racist.

"Sport is about completely different things, such as hard work, ambition and fair play.

"I hope this doesn't cause a diplomatic scandal."

Romanian journalist Emanuel Rosu has translated an incident, which is believed to involve assistant referee Octavian Sovre, and tweeted: "The diallogue [sic] between the refs in full: 'The black one over there. Go and check who he is. The black one over there, it's not poasible [sic] to act like that.'"

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Basaksehir forward Demba Ba confronted the official and told him: "You never say this white guy, you say this guy.

"So why when you mention [...] listen to me, why when you mention a black guy, you have to say this black guy?"

PSG players showed solidarity with their opponents, asking questions regarding what was going on.

Per BBC, defender Presnel Kimpembe could be heard saying: "Is he serious? We are heading in. We're heading in. That's it, we're heading in."

Kylian Mbappe said "we can't play with this guy" moments before leaving the pitch, while Neymar joined his teammates in protest.

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The game will be played on Wednesday from the 14th minute and both sets of teams will be the same.

Webo's red card has been rescinded so he'll be back in the dugout and a whole new set of match officials will be used.

PSG are already through to the Champions League knockout stages after Manchester United's 3-2 defeat to RB Leipzig in Group H's other game, while Istanbul will finish bottom.

Topics: Football News, Paris Saint-Germain, News, Football, PSG, Champions League

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

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