Didier Drogba has thanked the players from both Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir for walking off the pitch in the fight against racism, with new officials having already been confirmed for the postponed Champions League match.
PSG welcomed Turkish side Basaksehir to Parc des Princes for a crucial Group H decider on Tuesday night, knowing that a win or a draw would see them qualify for the round of 16.
However, the contest only lasted 14 minutes before play was halted, as fourth official Sebastian Coltescu was accused of using racially offensive language towards Basaksehir assistant coach Pierre Webo.
Webo was sent off for his role in the argument, which caused the away side to walk off the pitch in protest, and PSG followed soon after in a display of unity against racial prejudice, which Drogba was pleased to see.
The Chelsea legend's former team-mate Demba Ba was heard remonstrating with Coltescu as he leapt off the substitutes' bench, asking the question: "Why, when you mention a Black guy, do you have to say 'this Black guy'?"
Drogba posted a video of Ba's protests on social media and praised the actions of both sets of players after the match was officially called off, writing on Twitter: "Thank you Demba Ba and Achille Webo for standing out and to the players for leaving the field."
"You never this say 'this white guy', you say 'this guy', so why when you mention... listen to me... so why when you mention a black guy [do] you have to say 'this black guy?'"
— Didier Drogba (@didierdrogba) December 9, 2020
Thank you @dembabafoot and #AchilleWebo for standing out and to the players for leaving the field pic.twitter.com/UWB4VMGiCK
UEFA has confirmed a new set of match officials will be used when the game is restarted at 5:55pm GMT (12:55pm ET) on Wednesday evening in an official statement on their website, which reads: "UEFA has - after discussion with both clubs - decided on an exceptional basis to have the remaining minutes of the match played with a new team of match officials.
"A thorough investigation on the incident that took place will be opened immediately."
PSG ended up qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages despite their fixture being pushed back by a day after Manchester United suffered a 3-2 defeat away at RB Leipzig.
The French champions' superior head-to-head record against the Red Devils means they will progress regardless of whether they go on to pick up a positive result against Basaksehir.