Istanbul Bașakșehir striker Demba Ba spoke to Romanian referee Sebastian Coltescu after the Paris incident. The two were linked up by former Senegal midfielder Ousmane N’Doye as revealed by Romanian journalist Emanuel Roșu.
According to N’Doye, Demba “never said it was racism. He just thought Coltescu shouldn’t use the word ‘black’ in a stadium. Coltescu understood”.
“I’m a big fan of peace. Both Coltescu and Demba called me after they spoke, they were impressed by the good talk they had. I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding.
“I know how Romanians are, I never had problems with racism over there. I tried to get Coltescu’s number as soon as I could so I could encourage him, I know he’s not racist.”
The incident occurred in the match between PSG and Istanbul Bașakșehir. Coltescu referred to Bașakșehir’s assistant manager Pierre Webo as “that black guy” while pointing to him to be carded by the referee.
Ba was heard confronting Coltescu and telling him “When you’re referring to a white guy, you say this guy, why then do you refer to him as this black guy.”
It led to the match being suspended and resumed the following day. UEFA has since launched an investigation into the incident.