One of the small bonuses from empty stadiums is that we can hear what is said between the players, while that could also help explain just what happened to provoke the mess between PSG and Basaksehir tonight.
We could see on the TV cameras that something was clearly said by the fourth official to the Turkish bench which promoted a furious reaction before Demba Ba was sent off for confronting the match official who made the comments.
It’s pretty clear that something dreadful was said because both teams united to walk off the pitch and it looks like the game will be restarted without that match official in place, so this is going to be a huge mess for UEFA to sort out.
READ MORE: Video: Astonishing scenes as PSG vs Basaksehir interrupted and red card dished out over racism claims against the assistant referee
The excellent Get French Football News Twitter feed has given an indication to what was said during the incident, so it does give us a better idea of what may have happened here:
Pierre Webo, former Cameroonian attacker, was the assistant coach & individual sent off & who is understood to have been the victim of racist language on the part of the 4th official. Demba Ba led his teammates to refuse to continue play.
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) December 8, 2020
Pierre Webo after being sent off to the 4th official: “Why did you say n*gro, why did you say n*gro?”
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) December 8, 2020
Demba Ba immediately after: “You never say: “This white guy.” Why when you mention a black guy, you have to say this black guy.”
One of the officials responds that it is a miscommunication relating to “Romanian language.”
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) December 8, 2020
On review of the footage, Kylian Mbappé is one of the most vocal against the incident & encouraging his PSG colleagues to follow the Istanbul Basaksehir players off of the pitch.
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) December 8, 2020
Presnel Kimpembe picked up on RMC cameras: “WHAT? WHAT? Is he serious? We are heading in. We are heading in. That is it, we are heading in.”
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) December 8, 2020
On review of the footage, the referee, Ovidiu Ha?egan, appears to ask who he should give the red card to from the bench, with 4th official Sebastian Col?escu responding: “ala negru,” which in Romanian can translate to “the black [guy],” provoking the incident that followed.
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) December 8, 2020
Obviously we haven’t heard the last of this and more will emerge in the following days, but it’s the clearest explanation yet of what happened to provoke the incident.