If a game like PSG vs Basaksehir is taking all the headlines on a night when Messi is facing Cristiano Ronaldo then you know something big has happened, but this is completely for the wrong reasons.
The game had to be suspended when the fourth official was caught making racist comments towards the Turkish bench, while it appears it will be restarted without that official being in place.
The silence from the stands means it was all picked up by the mics, and this is pretty uncomfortable viewing for the PSG manager Thomas Tuchel as there are suggestions he’s trying to stick up for the ref.
Tuchel was picked up discussing the incident in English with Istanbul ace Fredrik Gulbrandsen, with the two taking differing stances, as we’ve quoted below…
Tuchel backing the 4th official naaaa pic.twitter.com/M1HQG46CiF
— ? (@usy1_) December 8, 2020
No way Tuchel backing the 4th official
Am white like him but someone tell TUCHEL #BlackLivesMatter forever. #UCL #MUFC pic.twitter.com/72k4LEo1Ik
— Maria (@UtdKatrina) December 8, 2020
Gulbrandsen: “That is a racist comment… but he said he said it”
Tuchel: “You don’t know, you didn’t hear it”
Pictures from BT Sport
In fairness to Tuchel it does sound like he’s trying to say to the player that he didn’t hear what was said, but it also sounds like the official admitted his comments so he has no reason to be trying to downplay them.
It’s a dreadful look for the PSG manager when all of the players have been united in their response by walking off the field, so he could have some uncomfortable questions to answer about this.
he is german. so it is normal for him to be racist maybe.
he didnt make a racist comment, he said ‘that black guy over there’ in Romanian.. romanians are not racist, look up Billel Omrani on instagram and what he said, or Harlem Gnohere. Many black players in Romania who live there many years and speak Romanian have also said they haven’t faced racism. It’s not like Slavic countries or Italy.. but people judge because of geography instead of researching..
in any case, what he did was unprofessional as he should have found a better way to describe the assistant coach, but still not racist. Just idiotic..