UEFA and the word at large over the years have been trying in every means possible to eliminate racism in all forms from every angle in the world. With a campaign to end racism, UEFA, FIFA and other football governing bodies have ensured players show respect before every game.
Racial abuse has normally been witnessed with supporters and on the street but hardly with an official over the years. Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir before their UEFA Champions league game followed the norm to take a knee for ‘Black lives matter’ as well as banners all around displaying ‘No Room for Racism’
Paris Saint-Germain at home to Istanbul Basaksehir meant a lot for the team as it was the determining factor which will either ensure their progress in the UEFA Champions league of whether they would have to join the UEFA Europa league.
The game however commenced with Paris Saint-Germain starting with top gear with the aim to find an early goal but everything came to a halt as the referee for the day went to the touch line following some confrontation with the forth referee.
With no fans present at the stadium, voice is very loud and heard by the few around and the bench and management of Istanbul Basaksehir made claims of the forth referee using the ‘N’ word on an Istanbul Basaksehir player, this drew many from the bench to question why the forth referee had to do such but rather looked unconcern. The players requested the forth referee be changed or removed from the pitch if not they would not continue with the game as it is not accepted to racially abuse anyone.
The players including Demba Ba started asking questions which were not answered and was joined by his teammates on the touch line. Soon after, the Istanbul Basaksehir players headed to the tunnel claiming this isn’t football is the official is rather racist.
The Parisian joined the visitors to disclose their displeasure as the alleged comment is not accepted anywhere near the beautiful game of football and also walked off the pitch.
Right after the boycott, both teams and players set their social media handles ablaze with #NoRoomForRacism, #RacismIsNotAcceptable.
I am a young and vibrant sports journalist from Ghana, a member of the Sports Writers’ Association of Ghana(SWAG), and working with Sports Preview Ghana and sports reporting outfit poised to bring all the latest and trending sports news around the globe.
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