Turkey’s Istanbulspor walk off pitch in protest at referee’s decision

Turkish side Istanbulspor walked off the pitch in protest at a refereeing decision in their Super Lig game against Trabzonspor on Tuesday, as the league resumed following a one-week suspension after a club president punched a referee.

Trabzonspor scored to go 2-1 up through Paul Onuachu, after Istanbulspor felt they should have been awarded a penalty following a clash between Florian Loshaj and Batista Mendy that left the former rolling on the floor.

Istanbulspor’s chairman Ecmel Faik Sarıaliogluinstructed the team to withdraw from the pitch and the game stopped in the 74th minute.

Some Istanbulspor players appeared to be reluctant to leave the pitch. The game was then abandoned.

“It is a sad day for football… We will wait for the football federation’s decision from now on,” Trabzonspor coach Abdullah Avci said.

The incident came on the first day of the resumption of matches following a week-long suspension after the president of top-flight club Ankaragucu, Faruk Koca, last week went on to the pitch and punched the referee.

The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) imposed a permanent ban on Koca, who was arrested the day after the match.

The TFF board also ruled that Ankaragucu should pay a two-million-lira ($69,000) fine and would play five home games without fans as a result of the unrest involving fans and club officials.