SOS Racisme and Sportitude France take issue with the conclusions of the UEFA disciplinary investigator who conclude that there is no racist connotation in the remarks made by a referee during the PSG-Basaksehir Champions League match at the Parc des Princes on December 8.
A meeting interrupted after 13 minutes following the words of this 4th referee against Achille Webo, the assistant coach of the Turkish club.
The latter had been hurt to be designated as “the black” in Romanian (“negru”) by one of the referees of the meeting, in this case the assistant referee, Octavia Sovre.
The two associations which had already stepped up to the plate after the incidents at the Parc des Princes put forward their point of view in a press release published this Friday, in which they were surprised at "a simplistic decision which refers to a denial of racism in the football ”, while“ this incident and the unprecedented reaction of the players revealed a nagging and recurring problem in football ”.
"We do not designate an individual by his origin or his skin color"
First observation according to them: “It is important to understand that we do not designate an individual, verbally or physically, by his origin or his skin color.
The signatories fear that after the unanimous and global outrage raised by the case, there will be a first-class funeral.
“For the first time, the main players in football and in particular the players of Paris Saint-Germain and Basaksehir, whose courageous act we welcome, have shown a desire to fight racism.
SOS Racisme and Sportitude France cannot therefore envisage that UEFA and its disciplinary committee take a decision contrary to this momentum.
"And to express a hope:" We dare to believe that the decision which will be rendered by the disciplinary committee in the coming days will be up to the global awareness generated by this affair.
"
No sanction for the 4th referee of PSG / Istanbul Basaksehir? #TeamPSG #PSG #PSGIBFK https://t.co/jsF9OrdZfx pic.twitter.com/Qn705VcIj7
- Canal Supporters (@CanalSupporters) February 11, 2021
UEFA opened a disciplinary case on Wednesday against Sébastian Coltescu, the fourth Romanian referee of the PSG-Istanbul Basaksehir match, and assistant referee Octavian Sovre.
No racism, but prosecution anyway?
The UEFA disciplinary investigator submitted his report on Thursday in which he indicated that the 4th referee did not make comments with racist overtones.
But at the same time, he ordered the European body to initiate proceedings against two of the arbitrators for “a potential violation” of article 11 of the rules of the instance relating to “general principles of conduct” and which proscribed insults.
In his conclusions, however, the investigator does not invoke article 14, which relates precisely to “racist or discriminatory conduct”.
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The disciplinary committee of the European body, which will ultimately decide on the basis of this report, may also not follow its recommendations and consider that the comments were indeed racist.
The decision is expected in two to three weeks.
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