Football racism no black and white issue in central Europe
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BUCHAREST, Dec 12, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – As the dust still rises on football’s night of racist accusations in Paris, the battlelines are being drawn in Romania, home of the fourth official whose use of the word “negru” prompted a player walk-off during Basaksehir’s Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain.
While some believe that Sebastian Coltescu and the comments he made were the product of linguistic misunderstanding, others feel that it is simply emblematic of a society riddled with racism and homophobia.
This is what happened. In the 14th minute of Tuesday’s game, a touchline argument broke out over accusations that Coltescu had described Basaksehir’s Cameroonian assistant coach Pierre Webo as “negru”, the Romanian for “black”.
Romanian fourth official Sebastian Coltescu was accused of using racist language by the Istanbul bench during their Group H clash on Tuesday. The players of both sides walked off in protest.