Istanbul Basaksehir and Paris Saint-Germain players walked off in protest during Tuesday’s Champions League match at the Parc des Princes after a member of the Turkish side’s coaching staff accused the fourth official of using a racial slur.

Pierre Webo, a former Cameroonian international and current assistant at Basaksehir, who is a Black man, claimed official Constantin Sebastian Coltescu called him a “negro”.

Webo was issued a red card by match referee Ovidiu Hategan in the 16th minute.

“Why do you say negro?” Webo could be heard saying repeatedly on the television broadcast.

An intense discussion between the two teams and officials went on for several minutes before Basaksehir decided to head down the tunnel. PSG showed solidarity with their opponents and agreed to walk off as well.

The game was halted in the 23rd minute with the score tied at 0-0.

UEFA said the game would restart and Coltescu would be removed as the fourth official, but staff for both teams had already begun to pack up their equipment.

“Following an alleged incident involving the fourth official, the match was temporarily suspended. After consultation with both teams, it was agreed that the match would restart with a different fourth official,” read a statement obtained by BBC Sport.

“Uefa will thoroughly investigate the matter and further communication will be made in due course.”

Basaksehir striker Demba Ba, who’s been a vocal authority in UEFA’s ongoing fight against racism, confronted the fourth official before walking off.

“When you’re mentioning the white guy, you never say this white guy. You say this guy,” Ba was captured saying on the broadcast. “So why when you mention a black guy, you have to say this black guy?”

PSG star Kylian Mbappe also lent his support to Basaksehir, telling match referee Hategan, “We cannot play with this guy.”

The result of the match means little in the context of Group H. Basaksehir were already out of contention to make the knockout stage, and PSG advanced as a result of Manchester United’s loss to RB Leipzig.

The 2022 World Cup qualifying draw for European nations was held Monday in Zurich, Switzerland, with UEFA’s 55 hopefuls learning their respective routes to the tournament in Qatar.

With the continent’s perennial contenders all seeded going into Monday’s event, the draw was light on heavyweight tilts, but still provided plenty of intriguing matchups across the 10 groups.

Group A: Portugal, Serbia, Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan

Group B: Spain, Sweden, Greece, Georgia, Kosovo

Group C: Italy, Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, Lithuania

Group D: France, Ukraine, Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan

Group E: Belgium, Wales, Czech Republic, Belarus, Estonia

Group F: Denmark, Austria, Scotland, Israel, Faroe Islands, Moldova

Group G: Netherlands, Turkey, Norway, Montenegro, Latvia, Gibraltar

Group H: Croatia, Slovakia, Russia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta

Group I: England, Poland, Hungary, Albania, Andorra, San Marino

Group J: Germany, Romania, Iceland, North Macedonia, Armenia, Liechtenstein

How does qualifying work?

Thirteen European nations will feature at the 2022 World Cup.

The 10 group winners will automatically qualify for the tournament.

Meanwhile, the 10 group runners-up will enter the playoffs, along with two teams that won their Nations League groups – if the latter have already reached the playoffs via the traditional qualifying route above, their playoff berths will pass to the next-best Nations League teams. That final group of 12 playoff teams will be evenly drawn into three paths, with the winner of each path booking a place at world football’s showpiece event

The European qualifiers – including the playoffs – run from March 2021 to March 2022.

When is the 2022 World Cup?

The World Cup itself is slated to begin Nov. 21, 2022, with the final scheduled for Dec. 22 at Lusail Stadium in Doha.

Qatar’s intense summer heat facilitated a switch to the winter months, making the tournament the first of its kind not to be held in May, June, or July.