A little less than half an hour passed between kick-off at Millwall on Tuesday evening and a red card being shown at the Parc des Princes, Paris.
Two events, 724 kilometres apart, both with a lasting resonance for how the world’s most popular sport confronts racism, and, as some powerful voices suggest, perhaps watershed moments in football’s recognising that it has a deep-rooted problem.
At Millwall, nobody booed when players of the home team and visiting Queens Park Rangers made symbolic gestures against racism at 7.45pm UK time. Dispiritingly, there had been a very real expectation there would be booing.
Three days earlier, as Millwall welcomed a limited number of fans back into the New Den after nine months of behind-closed-doors matches – a period in which players taking a knee has become a powerful ritual at most English professional matches – there was loud, sustained booing at kick-off.
After widespread condemnation, Millwall the club took action to make sure it was not repeated.
Their efforts may have been clumsy – Millwall wrote in a letter to all those with tickets on Tuesday that “the eyes of the world are on this football club – your club – and they want us to fail” – but instead of boos there was gentle applause when players linked arms behind a banner promoting equality.
Whether or not it needed fans to be told that showing respect for an anti-racism gesture is an act of defiance against a world that "wants us to fail", time will tell.
What happened in Paris at 9.13pm French time was not so stage-managed. It was 0-0 in Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League match against Istanbul Basaksehir.
The Romanian referee, Ovidiu Hategan, had just called a foul against PSG’s Presnel Kimpembe. From the Basaksehir coaching staff and substitutes there was noisy protest, apparently because one of their players, Rafael, had been booked seconds earlier and Kimpembe was not shown a yellow card.
The protests merited a card, the match officials concluded. Hategan asked Sebastian Coltescu, the nearest fourth official, who should be sent to the dressing-room. It was Pierre Webo, assistant coach and a former Cameroon international striker.
The “negru”, Coltescu said to Hategan in Romanian, pointing out Webo, who then approached the two match officials and asked, four times, “Why did you say ‘negro’?” In the empty Parc des Princes, the dialogue was clearly audible from several tiers away, where reporters were sitting.
Tensions rose, Webo was separated from Coltescu and Hategan by some of his colleagues and players began to gather around the confrontation, PSG’s Neymar, Marquinhos and Kylian Mbappe among them.
The two teams then agreed to leave the pitch. Mbappe is reported to have said: “We can’t play with this guy,” apparently referring to Coltescu.
Demba Ba, the Senegal striker who was among Basaksehir’s substitutes confronted the fourth official to ask why he had used the term. “When you talk about a white man, you don’t talk about ‘the white man’, so why do you say that for a black man?”
After various interventions by the Uefa match delegates, in which it was suggested the match be resumed with Coltescu changing places with the on-site referee in charge of VAR. Basaksehir rejected that proposal and the game was officially postponed. It was agreed the 76 minutes outstanding should be replayed on Wednesday under the watch of an entirely new group of match officials.
Uefa have opened an investigation. They can impose a minimum 10-match ban for racism offences. Uefa have had in place since 2009 a protocol that allows players to leave the field if they are being subject to racist abuse, which was designed principally for cases of abuse from the crowd. It has not been enacted in a high profile senior match. The decision of both the PSG and Basaksehir teams to abandon the Parc des Princes is a first.
“It could be a turning-point,” said Olivier Dacourt, the former France international who played in Serie A and the Premier League and campaigns against racism in the sport. “It was a brave move by all the players.
"In some ways," Dacourt told L'Equipe, "it was a good thing it was a behind-closed-doors game. If there had been 45,000 in the Parc des Princes, what was said [by the fourth official] would not have been heard so clearly.
"It would have come down to Webo’s word against the word of the match officials, and probably not have had the same outcome. What everybody heard were the things players, unfortunately, do hear.”
At Millwall last Saturday they heard it in a different form: the booed rejection of a gesture that asks simply that institutional racism be recognised and given a few seconds of thought.
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Community Shield info
Where, when and at what time Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday at 5pm (UAE time)
Arsenal line up (3-4-2-1) Petr Cech; Rob Holding, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal; Hector Bellerin, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain; Alex Iwobi, Danny Welbeck; Alexandre Lacazette
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
Chelsea line up (3-4-2-1) Thibaut Courtois; Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Gary Cahill; Victor Moses, Cesc Fabregas, N'Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso; Willian, Pedro; Michy Batshuayi
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte
Referee Bobby Madley
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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The five pillars of Islam
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE squad
Esha Oza (captain), Al Maseera Jahangir, Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Katie Thompson, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Michelle Botha, Rinitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Siya Gokhale, Sashikala Silva, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish (wicketkeeper) Udeni Kuruppuarachchige, Vaishnave Mahesh.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – First ODI
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
MATCH DETAILS
Juventus 2 (Bonucci 36, Ronaldo 90 6)
Genoa 1 (Kouame 40)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
India Test squad
Virat Kohli (c), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
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The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
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Profile of Bitex UAE
Date of launch: November 2018
Founder: Monark Modi
Based: Business Bay, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: Eight employees
Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings
