Fourth official at centre of PSG vs Istanbul Basaksehir race row faces 10-GAME ban as Uefa launch investigation

THE ROMANIAN fourth official who caused the unprecedented walk-off by players of both sides PSG’s Champions League game with Istanbul Basaksehir faces a 10-GAME ban.

Uefa have confirmed their anti-racism rulebook applies to match officials as well as players.

And that leaves Sebastian Coltescu staring at a lengthy ban in addition to the long-term damage to his reputation after his comments to Basaksehir’s Cameroonian assistant coach Pierre Webo.

Former Chelsea and West Ham striker Demba Ba led the furious protests at Coltescu’s comments as he urged fellow Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan to dismiss Webo from the bench.

Both sides agreed to walk off in protest after just 14 minutes of the game.

Uefa agreed to remove Coltescu from his duties but the Turkish champions refused to play on after being told the Romanian was being instead moved to duties in the VAR booth.

The match was finally abandoned more than two hours later with Uefa confirming it would restart this evening, at 5.55pm, to play out the remaining 76 minutes with a different set of match officials in charge.

Uefa also confirmed that a “thorough investigation on the incident that took place will be opened immediately”.

That makes disciplinary action against Coltescu almost inevitable, with the ban laid down in Uefa statutes.

However, officials at Uefa’s Nyon headquarters have been made aware of Coltescu’s concerning personal past.

Uefa have been informed of reports in the Romanian media that Coltescu has previously attempted to take his own life after sustained criticism of his performances in domestic football and recognises it has a duty of care towards him.

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