Champions League teams Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir walked off the field in the 13th minute of the match after the fourth official was accused of using a racial slur against Istanbul’s assistant coach.
The New York Times reported that audio of the incident suggested Romanian fourth official Sebastian Coltescu called referee Ovidiu Hategan to the sideline.
Mr Coltescu allegedly told the referee that Pierre Webó, from Istanbul’s coaching staff, should be removed from the match and pointed him out as “that Black one.”
As Mr Hategan moved towards the former Cameroon international with a red card, he spoke out against the alleged comments.
“Why did he say n****?” Mr Webó shouted at the referee. “Why did you say n****?”
Istanbul’s striker, Demba Ba, approached the fourth official and asked him why he singled the assistant coach out with an alleged racial term.
“You never say ‘this white guy’, you say ‘this guy’, so why when you,” he said before he was interrupted.
“Listen to me!,” he yelled.
“Why when you mention a black guy do you have to say ‘this black guy’?,” Demba Ba asked the fourth official.
After a lengthy discussion with the referee and fourth official, Istanbul’s players left the field, followed by their match rivals PSG.
Following the match, PSG took to Twitter to publicly confirm Istanbul’s versions of events.
The team tweeted that the match was “interrupted after 13 minutes of play following racist remarks from the 4th referee towards a member of the staff of the Basaksehir club.”
In a statement released on Wednesday, UEFA said it would thoroughly investigate the matter.
"Following an alleged incident involving the fourth official, the match was temporarily suspended," UEFA's statement read.
"After consultation with both teams, it was agreed that the match would restart with a different fourth official.
Football fans online praise both teams for walking off the field.
“So proud of Demba Ba and the PSG players for walking off, you can’t keep letting shit like that slide,” one person tweeted.
“May the attitude of the PSG and Istanbul Basaksehir players serve as inspiration for so many other athletes who witness such a disgusting act. ENOUGH!!,” another person added.
The incident comes after Millwall fans applauded QPR players as they took a knee with the Lions after fans booed the same gesture last weekend.
At the match, QPR players stood stand arm-in-arm to show of solidarity for football’s fight against discrimination and held a banner with the ‘Kick It Out’ logo.
The Football Association has launched an investigation into the behaviour of fans, who booed players taking a knee at two English Football League games over the weekend.
