Irish Examiner view: Battling racism

Players of Paris Saint Germain, and Istanbul Basaksehir leave the pitch, during the Champions League group H soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris,The players refused to continue the match amid allegations of racism by one of the match officials. 

YOU can have all the protests you like to combat racism in sport. You can ban supporters who shout racist remarks and fine the teams they support. You can tweet to your heart’s content but racism in sport continues to be nothing short of an epidemic, especially in soccer. Now, however, players themselves are showing that there may be a more effective way to combat this scourge — walk off the pitch.

That is what happened in Paris on Tuesday night when Paris Saint Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir players abandoned the pitch in protest during their final Champions League group stage match over an alleged racist slur made by a match official against a member of the Turkish team’s backroom staff. Istanbul claim that the fourth official Sebastian Coltescu directed the racist remark towards their assistant coach Pierre Webo, a former Cameroonian international.