Published on: Friday, December 11, 2020
By: AFP
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PSG’s Neymar (left) celebrates with teammates after scoring his side’s opening goal during the match against Basaksehir.
PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir played their Champions League match to a conclusion on Wednesday, 24 hours after it had been suspended, with Neymar scoring a hat-trick before saying both teams had felt compelled to make a stand against racism in what was an unprecedented protest over an alleged comment by an official.
PSG won the game 5-1 after it restarted where it had stopped the previous day, in the 14th minute, following a touchline argument over accusations the Romanian fourth official, Sebastian Coltescu, had described Basaksehir’s Cameroonian assistant coach Pierre Webo as “black”, or “negru” in Romanian.
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Paris Saint-Germain’s Brazilian forward Neymar (C) is challenged by Istanbul Basaksehir’s Turkish midfielder Mahmut Tekdemir (back) during the UEFA Champions League group H football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Istanbul Basaksehir FK at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, on December 9, 2020. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
Paris Saint-Germain beat Istanbul Basaksehir 5-1 on Wednesday with Neymar scoring a hat-trick as both teams took a knee before restarting their Champions League match suspended 24 hours earlier in an unprecedented protest over an allegedly racist comment by a match official.
The teams, who had joined forces on Tuesday to walk off the pitch following the row, gathered around the centre circle prior to the resumption and were joined by the match officials as they kneeled in support of the Black Lives Matter cause.