The meeting suspended this Tuesday between the Paris Saint-Germain and the Basaksehir Istanbul It will resume this Wednesday, starting at 6:55 p.m., after the decision taken by UEFA in this regard, which will investigate what happened. Let us remember that the match was suspended when only 13 minutes had been played.
The reason, the controversy unleashed in the bench area after Pierre
Webo, members of the Turkish team's technical staff, was expelled at the request of the fourth official. Webo reacted accusing said referee, the Romanian Sebastian Coltescu, of having identified him using the name of ‘black’, a term of a clear racist nature.
Pierre Webo's complaint triggered a chain reaction of players from Basaksehir Istanbul himself but also from PSG against Coltescu's attitude, which led to the withdrawal of both teams of the pitch and on the back suspension of the match by UEFA.
The European body announced hours later that the clash will resume from 18.55 this Wednesday, with a totally renewed referee body.
Don't miss any of the keys to the meeting and the controversy.
Who is the fourth official?
Sebastian Coltescu, 43, is a Romanian collegiate born in Craiova. His life, both personal and professional, is marked by all series of vicissitudes, including a double suicide attempt, the loss of parents, cancer victims, within a year and a half and the divorce, just over a year ago, from the mother of his 13-year-old daughter.
In the plane professional it is not at its best either. Adrian Porumboiu, a former Romanian referee, did not hold his tongue at the end of last November to criticize his controversial performance in a Romanian League match: “His entire career is full of dark moments. You may have talent, but should he dedicate himself to music or dancing. We all understand human errors, but yours haven't been for years. There is no game in which it does not directly influence the final result ”. Gigi Becali, the controversial owner of the Steaua in Bucharest, sentenced him in 2010 with a lapidary phrase: “In our country already there are no corrupt arbiters; they are simply bad ”. The issue has transcended beyond sports in his country, in which the Romanian sports minister has apologized for the incident.
The referee himself spoke about what happened yesterday in the first minutes of the PSG – Istanbul Basaksehir match: “Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a racist.” In addition, he has affirmed that he will avoid reading the press during these days and that he only focuses on being good.
Poll MD: Do you believe the fourth official when he says he is not racist?
Is the entire match repeated?
No, the meeting between PSG and Basaksehir Istanbul will be resumed in minute 14, which is when all the controversy began. At that time, the scoreboard was still 0-0, a result that would give PSG second place in the group. The French champion will unseat Leipzig from the top position in the event of victory; if he draws or loses he will be second in all cases, so the classification for the round of 16 is assured.
Will the fourth official of the controversy be on the field?
No. UEFA designated for the resumption of the match a totally new referee team, made up of the following referees: as main referee, Danny Makkelie (Netherlands), assisted on the wings by Mario Diks (Netherlands) and Marcin Boniek (Poland). UEFA has appointed Polish Bartosz Frankowski as the fourth official, while the VAR team is made up of Italians Marco Di Bello and Maurizio Mariani, the latter as assistant.
Is the red card shown to Pierre Webo valid?
Basaksehir Istanbul's second coach will be able to sit on the bench without any problems: the Turkish club has announced that UEFA has canceled the red card shown to it on Tuesday, so it will not have any disciplinary consequences.
In fact, in the 'minute by minute' of the match carried out by the European body, the expulsion was not collected, so before the aforementioned announcement it was already possible to understand that it did not appear in any party report and therefore, did not 'exist 'officially.
Do Basaksehir Istanbul have any option to continue in the Champions League?
No. Whatever the outcome of this Wednesday's game, the turkish team, with 3 points added in the first five games of the league, it will be last of the group H.
Why should the match end?
Above all, to decide which team ends up as first of the group, which gives the advantage, in the second round, of playing the second leg of the knockout round on their own ground. PSG is now second, three points behind Leipzig. If he wins the game, he will equalize with the Germans, whom he will surpass by the particular goal average, unseating them from the first place.
On the other hand, winning or drawing the match means that clubs enter more or less money, amount that this season depends on the percentage of victories achieved by each team.
What decisions will UEFA take on the controversy?
Beyond deciding to resume the clash from minute 14 and with a totally new referee team, the organism has opened a file to clarify what happened in the Park of the Princes before making any determination.
It can be assumed that Coltescu will suffer a harsh sanction, taking into account the involvement of UEFA in the fight against racism, of which it has been the flag in recent seasons. In any case, before making a firm decision, the body will listen to all the parties involved in the controversy, so it will not be an immediate announcement.
It should also be noted that the French Government has been very satisfied with the reaction of the players at the time of the incident.