Southampton star Kyle Walker-Peters praised the players of PSG and Istanbul Basaksehir for walking off the pitch during Tuesday night’s Champions League match after hearing alleged racist abuse, adding: “They’ve done exactly what I would do.” The match was abandoned after just 14 minutes in Paris, after fourth official Sebastian Coltescu was accused of using a racist term towards Istanbul’s assistant coach Pierre Webo. The former Cameroon international was shown a red card following an exchange on the touchline. Istanbul’s players then walked off the pitch in protest, closely followed by PSG. The players returned the following evening to resume the contest, but only after showing a display of solidarity by all taking the knee around the centre circle whilst the famous Champions League anthem played. Asked what his emotions were watching the scenes in Paris,
Kyle Walker-Peters said “I think it’s a great reaction from the players. I think if what was allegedly said was heard by the players, I think they’ve done exactly what I would do as a player. I’m glad it was dealt with in the way it was dealt. They resumed the game on Wednesday, which I think is no problem. Ultimately I think the players made the right decision, if what was allegedly said was said. That’s why we’re taking the knee. That’s why we have the schemes like Kick It Out because people still need to be educated I think. I think unfortunately what happened at the Millwall game (on Saturday) showed that there’s still a long way to go. But as football players, as football clubs I feel like we’re doing a good job to fight against it and hopefully we’ll get to a time where we don’t have to be taking the knee and where we’ve progressed a lot as people. I think it’s important, Some teams have explained why they don’t want to do it and fair play, they’re entitled to their views in terms of how they want to portray the message. And if it’s not by taking the knee and if it’s in a different way, then so be it. But as long as everyone as footballers and as football teams is trying to portray the message in some way, I think that works for me.”
