Demba Ba denies racism row with Romanian official for PSG vs Istanbul Basaksehir is over
The Senegalese striker has appeared to reject reports of a resolution with the Sebastian Coltescu
Demba Ba has rejected reports of an apology from Champions League official Sebastian Coltescu over the alleged racist remark which forced Paris Saint-Germain vs Istanbul Basaksehir to be suspended.
Both sets of players refused to continue playing last week as long as the Romanian official remained involved in the game, which was eventually completed the next day.
The anger was sparked after allegations a racist remark was made by Coltescu in order to identify the Turkish side’s Cameroonian assistant coach Pierre Webo.
The disagreement stems from Coltescu using the word “negru”, the Romanian word for black, with Ba taking exception to the way in which Webo was described.
Ba has now spoken out on the situation once again after seeing quotes attributed to himself circulating from Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, which appeared to confirm a resolution between the former Chelsea and Newcastle striker and Coltescu had occurred with the Uefa assistant calling to apologise.
But Ba has seemingly rejected the story and distanced himself from the quotes after quote tweeting French outlet So Foot, who carried the story: “Make sure your sources are reliable before writing.”
The now disputed story from the Turkish outlet suggested the Senegalese striker’s former international colleague Ousmane N’Doye had acted as a mediator between Ba and Coltescu.
N’Doye is quoted in the Romanian press as saying: “Demba Ba is from Senegal like me. I made them talk."
“They both said ‘he is a good man’ about each other. Ba did not accuse the referee of racism.”
READ MORE: Champions League fixtures — all matches by date and kick-off time
The match was eventually finished the next day with PSG running out 5-1 winners to confirm their place in the last 16 as group winners.
The Ligue 1 champions will now play Barcelona for a place in the quarter-finals, with the first leg set for 16 February, before the return match at the Parc des Princes on 10 March.
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