It was a scene that brought shame upon UEFA and was responsible for both Paris Saint-Germain players and their Istanbul Basaksehir counterparts walking off of the pitch in disgust.
During the Champions League tie this week, the fourth official was accused of racism by the Turkish side.
With so much focus on kicking out racism at present, it beggars belief that an official would allow themselves to be involved in the same.
However, as Romanian journalist, Emanuel Rosu, noted on his official Twitter account, there seemed to be some confusion in his use of language.
The fall-out from the incident saw the game abandoned on the night but played the next day with an entirely different group of officials.
It’s a very delicate ongoing situation, as UEFA look to make some sense of the incident and the furore that erupted thereafter.
There every move will surely being watched with interest, and with Rosu setting out (below) exactly what was said, their conclusions could be game-changing.
I’ve spent the past 3 hours listening to a clean feed from the 15 minutes of madness in the game between PSG and Basaksehir on Tuesday. And here’s what I found out. A short thread. pic.twitter.com/62UgI7lk8O
— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
min 9:15 Okan is upset with a yellow card decision. He screas from his bench: “1st foul! 1st foul! It’s not basketball”. Coltescu, the 4th official, tries to temper him. Okan to Coltescu: “This is not Romania! We are coming [from] Turkey!”
— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
Coltescu in the communication system: “Tavi [talking to assistant Sovre], I told you, this guy is really naughty!”
13:13″Book him! The black one! It’s not possible to do something like that! Go and see who he! The black one over there! It’s not possible to do something like that”— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
These words belong to assistant Sovre, and not to Coltescu. You can see Sovre pointing towards the bench to indicate Hategan whom he should book from the big group around the dugout. pic.twitter.com/H8cXm9uUks
— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
The players start screaming towards Coltescu, whom WE DON’T know at this point what he told whom. Webo is mad with him using the word ‘Negro’. Even if Coltescu used the word, it was ‘NEGRU’, which in Romanian means ‘black’, it’s the colour ‘black’.
— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
Webo asks Coltescu ‘why you say ‘negro’? why you say ‘negro’?’ repeatedly. Hategan, the ref in charge of the game, tries to calm down the people around him. pic.twitter.com/dRRVMEKdVI
— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
After they are told by the refs that ‘Negru’ means ‘black’ in Romanian, Demba Ba comes in. Also, Okan intensifies his protests. Demba focuses on ‘why do you identify him by his colour?’ and that’s the message he repeats constatly. pic.twitter.com/wGEQTTLq8s
— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
Coltescu tries to explain to the PSG players that he used the word ‘black’. Spirits seem to calm down.
min 14:35 A voice calls for ‘the [UEFA] delegate’ to come down. pic.twitter.com/TpyD8uLFqx— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
min 14:40 Okan: “In my country, Romania is gypsy (!!!). I can’t say gypsy!”
min 15:25 Voice: “This is Champions League, not Romanian League”
min 15:28 Ref Hategan: “My friend, we speak Romanian between us!” pic.twitter.com/n9u9VKAl3K— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
min 15:35 Mbappe tells Hategan about Coltescu: “Get him out!”
min 15:50 Hategan tries to explain to Demba Ba that ‘Negru’ is just the colour black in Romanian. Demba insists Coltescu identified Webo by his colour and is very vocal about it. pic.twitter.com/6y5r5QeuC0— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
min 16:05 Demba Ba asks his colleagues to leave the pitch for the first time.
min 16:13: Mbappe to Hategan: “Get him [Coltescu] out!” pic.twitter.com/OqDACfyXDb— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
min 16:27 Okan to Coltescu: “The guys don’t accept you. We don’t accept you! we don’t want you! You are racist! You are racist, we don’t want you!” pic.twitter.com/66pnmsJUKU
— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
min 16:60 Demba goes on with his message: “Ref [talking to Hategan]! When he [Coltescu] talks about a white guy he says ‘this guy’. If he sees a black guy, he says ‘this ‘negro'”
min 17 Hategan tries to convince Okan and Demba that Coltescu didn’t say ‘negro’. pic.twitter.com/IZKJIjbh9R— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
min 17:29 Gulbrandsen to Tuchel: “He made a racist comment! He said it!”
Tuchel appeared to encourage the players to continue the game. This is a personal comment of mine based on his gestures. pic.twitter.com/rgF1OBQ5VW— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
min 17:50 Voice from the staff of Basaksehir talking to Hategan: “We can’t accept this! He is unlucky because of this word! Please, take him out and continue the game!” pic.twitter.com/J0hqQir703
— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
min 18:03 Hategan tells Neymar how ‘negru’ goes in the Romanian language.
min 18:06 Demba confronts Coltescu telling him: “Why don’t you say this guy and you say this black guy? You don’t do the same when it’s a white guy!” pic.twitter.com/mA7Y4kAc58— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
min 18:47 The match delegate comes down and has a talk with Hategan and Coltescu.
Hategan: “Sebi [Coltescu], tell him exactly what you said!”
You can’t hear Coltescu’s explanation. Tried to for at least 120 times. pic.twitter.com/q3F72B87vB— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
The only thing I do hear is at min 19:15. Coltescu: “Negru means black.” pic.twitter.com/976onLXLxV
— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
min 19:37 Demba asks his team mates to leave the pitch, while refs continue talking to Basaksehir officials and the UEFA delegate. pic.twitter.com/kulhtCSgaa
— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
min 20:55 Coltescu explains to Leonardo what happened. Okan comes in: “You are racist. You are racist. You say the word ‘negro’. You are racist!” pic.twitter.com/lcecFK28Yr
— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
min 21:30 Okan to Coltescu: “You sent him because of the colour, yes!”
min 21:45 A PSG voice to Hategan: “It’s a hard choice, it’s not to make things easy! It’s just to say you addressed it” [the incident] – referring to sending Coltescu to the stands! pic.twitter.com/pDUCp3h9aD— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
min 21:43 A voice screaming in Spanish: “Hablamos mucho! La puta!” (We are talking too much! The whore!)
min 22:00 A voice in Romanian, probably Coltescu: “It’s common language! [referring to the word ‘negru’, translated as ‘black’]” pic.twitter.com/IV27SpJZ2X— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
min 22:15 The players of Basaksehir are leaving the pitch. One of them screams: “Fuck off!” Another: “You have to respect! This is not football!” pic.twitter.com/WAvrBNpBxo
— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
min 22:45 Both teams go back to their locker rooms. Hategan to Leonardo: “We wait for 10 minutes. We come back if they want to continue the game.” Leonardo says something. Hategan: “I don’t know, I don’t know! It’s not up to me!” pic.twitter.com/KLnVb81PfQ
— Emanuel Ro?u (@Emishor) December 10, 2020
The word “negru/neagra are adjectives in Romanian languages and mean black as colour. They don’t have any racist connotation as Romanians were never involved in African slave trade and use. Unfortunately, the pronunciation sounds much like the French “nègre” and English “negro” words uses to designate African slaves and nowadays racist insults. Webo is French speaking and most likely he misheard and misinterpreted “negru” as “nègre”. Webo was abusing the Romanian referees so that is why Hategan asked Coltescu to identify the abuser. Webo had no badge, visible distinctive number of anything to identify him other than appearance. Keep in mind that was not a discussion in a quiet place but during a highly stressful and tension filled football match. Coltescu was tried and found guilty by social media, who villified and abused him for using a word in his mothertongue that sounds like racist words in English and French.
I am Romanian mothertongue and understand perfectly the context of the use of word “negru”.
Great comment – Totally agree.
Black Lives Matter, but saying ‘black’ is racist?
Honestly, I’m confused.
I’m black and I’m honestly disgusted by this
they ruined this poor ref’s career and accused him of racism for no good reason.