defended
Liverpool legend John Barnes sticks up for Romanian official who sparked walkout in Champions League encounter between PSG and Istanbul Basaksehir
Liverpool legend John Barnes has defended the fourth official who allegedly used racist language to identify Istanbul Basaksehir's assistant coach.
UEFA has announced the appointment of an Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector to look into the events of the Group H encounter, which was abandoned after 13 minutes when both sets of players walked off the pitch in the wake of a red card being shown to Basaksehir assistant manager Pierre Webo.
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Subsequent video footage showed the Cameroonian accusing the fourth official, Romanian Sebastian Coltescu, of using racist language, with Basaksehir striker Demba Ba also remonstrating with the official.
Coltescu now faces a TEN-GAME ban after sparking a race row in the match - which is set to resume after 14 minutes on Wednesday evening.
Alongside images of the Istanbul coaching staff, Barnes wrote: "Here is the coaching staff at istanbul... 1 of them is going to be sent off and the ref asks the 4th official which one should he send off...
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"Can anyone tell me how he should identify him as he doesnt know their names, and they arent wearing numbers, other than THE BLACK ONE?"
A fan responded by to Barnes by saying that the fourth official should have asked for a name rather than using skin colour as a descriptor, but he disagreed.
He said: "The ref doesnt know who to ask, the 4th official has to tell the ref which one to approach so he tells him to approach “the black one” .. then the ref may ask his name and send him off.. the 4th officials job is JUST to identify him.. not ask his name."
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Kick It Out chair Sanjay Bhandari has said Coltescu will struggle to work again if allegations made against him are upheld.
He told Sky Sports News: "I'm not sure whether it would be possible - even if they didn't get a life ban - I'm not sure how easy it would be for that person to officiate again, and whether the players would accept that.
"We have to let process take its course and hopefully they (UEFA) will do a thorough investigation and there will be appropriate sanctions."
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