Romanian newspaper "ProSport" reported the first statement of the Romanian referee, Sebastian Koltisco, accused of racism, against the assistant coach of Turkish Basaksehir team, during his match with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
The racist suspension of the Romanian referee against Pierre Webo, assistant coach of the Turkish club, stopped the match between Saint-Germain and Basaksehir on Tuesday, and the match resumed today, Wednesday, with a different refereeing team.
The Romanian newspaper said that Koltisco told one of his relatives in self-defense, saying, "I am just trying to be a good person, and I will not see any news sites these days, anyone who knows me knows that I am not a racist, I hope so."
The Romanian Football Association had announced - in a statement published on its official website - that it was awaiting the report of the European Football Association (UEFA) about the incident of racism in which the referee Koltisco was involved, before taking any measures regarding the incident.
#Champions League
Here are the details in live audio.
The Saint Germain and Istanbul match in Basaksehir was suspended after a racist incident.
The former Cameroonian player and a member of the Turkish team's technical staff accused the fourth referee of directing racist words against him # beINUCL # Paris_San_Germain_Basak_Shir # PSGIBFK
✊🏿✊🏾✊🏼 pic.twitter.com/5i9adaGp2K
- beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) December 8, 2020
UEFA said on Wednesday that it had appointed an inspector from the Values and Discipline Committee "to open an investigation into the incident."
The investigation may result in penalties for referees who are also governed by the UEFA Discipline Regulations, which are commonly used to punish clubs and players.
"The words we have all heard have no place in football. We in the federation not only respect the values of UEFA related to social inclusion, the fight against racism and the fight against incitement to hatred, but we also promote them," the president of the Romanian Football Association, Razvan Burliano, told the Romanian sports website Prosport.
"If we are certain that we are talking about racism, then there will be no understanding on my part, but we have to wait for the real details of this incident before reaching conclusions," he added.
For his part, Romanian Sports Minister Ionot Straw apologized for the incident and told the TV station Digi 24, “We strongly condemn any statement that could be considered racist or incitement to discrimination. Represent the Roman sport. "
"The UEFA investigation will tell us what really happened and action will be taken after that," he added. "I don't think this will lead to a diplomatic scandal. We should not tolerate such behavior. We will have discussions on how to fix the situation."