Europe’s media calls for an end to racism after Parc des Princes scenes

The biggest sports newspapers around Europe have thrown their support behind the Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir players who walked off the pitch at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday evening.

The Group H clash between the two sides was suspended after fourth official Sebastian Coltescu was accused of using racist language by the Istanbul bench. 

The Turkish side’s assistant boss Pierre Webo was protesting a decision in the first half when the referee came across to speak to his fellow Romanian.

Pierre Webo (right), Basaksehir’s assistant manager, was livid when he was allegedly identified as ‘the black one over there’ by the fourth official

The fourth official Sebastian Coltescu (above)  was accused of usuing making the racist remark on the touchline

AS and L’Equipe both dedicated their front pages to the scenes at the Parc des Princes 

Footage appeared to show Coltescu stating: ‘The black one over there. Go and check who he is. The black one over there, it’s not possible to act like that’. 

It is believed he said ‘negru’, the Romanian word for black.

Webo was shown a straight red card by referee Ovidiu Hategan for his reaction, which sparked fresh incredulity from the Basaksehir bench, including former Newcastle and Chelsea striker Demba Ba. After nearly 10 minutes of discussions, both sides left the pitch.  

La Gazzetta dello Sport and Tuttosport both referenced the events on their front pages 

The tone on the front covers across Europe on Wednesday morning was a mix of anger and despair at the scenes. 

In France, L’Equipe went with the phrase ‘Le Ras-Le-Bol’ as their front page – which is a term meaning ‘had enough’ or ‘fed up’. 

In Spain, AS dedicated their front cover to the incident. Webo spent eight years of his playing career in the country with Osasuna, Leganes and Real Mallorca. Their front page stated: ‘Stop the racism’. 

In Italy, La Gazzetta, Tuttosport and Corrier dello Sport all made reference to the scenes in Paris.

Gazzetta used the strapline ‘racist official’ on their front page, while Tuttosport explaoined how the match was suspended due to a racist fourth official.