PSG star, Kylian Mbappe has expressed delight with his team and Turkish giant, Istanbul Basaksehir for standing up against racism.
Both clubs left the pitch on Tuesday night after the 4th official, Sebastian Coltescu was accused of using a racist term towards Basaksehir assistant Pierre Webo.
In order to pass the message further, both sets of players and match officials took a knee around the centre circle during the Champions League anthem in the rescheduled fixture on Wednesday night.
“We are tired, we don’t want to go through this again. Of course, I am proud of what was done. We were not disappointed not to play. We made that decision. We were proud.
“A lot of things were said but, in fact, there’s nothing better than actions.”
Webbo back to the touchline during PSG – Istanbul Basaksehir clash
The goals were shared by Mbappe and Neymar, who scored a hat-trick to help PSG to a 5-1 win.
Meanwhile, Webo who had been sent off – was allowed to take his place on the away bench, with his red card suspended while Uefa investigates the incident.
Basaksehir coach Okan Buruk blamed the referee for not dealing with the issue before it escalated.
“The referee should have dealt with the situation but he didn’t and we had to show that we stood with Webo. The decision was made by the players. Some wanted to go back to the pitch but we stuck together as a team and it was eventually a team decision.
“We showed the entire world that we are united.”
‘Hurtful incident’
Despite several campaign against racism that led to the Black Lives Matter Movement, the fight against racial justice continues.
Recently, Millwall fans booed their own players for taking a knee on Saturday in the Championship encounter against Derby. But it was a different occasion on Tuesday night as the fans applauded the players after their actions were initially condemned.
Reacting to the incident in Paris on Tuesday, Nacer Chadli, who came on as a substitute in Wednesday’s game, said in 2020, such incident is very hurtful for all.
“I was feeling very sad, like the other players in the dressing room. That hurt us deep because we love football and we were there to play a game and something happened that we didn’t expect.”
PSG coach Thomas Tuchel also backed his players, describing his decision as a strong one.
“They made a strong decision, they stuck with the other team and made a brave decision. In the dressing room, it was clear that they wanted to show that reaction.”
Courtesy of the victory, PSG topped the Champions League group ahead of RB Leipzig, who qualified and eliminated Manchester United with a 3-2 win over the English side on Tuesday.
