Trabzonspor player Salih Dursun was sent off after picking up and brandishing a red card at the refeee, seconds after his team-mate had been sent off in the 2-1 defeat to Galatasaray.
Already down to nine players due to two earlier dismissals, the incident left Trabzonspor with just seven players on the pitch. Until then the Trabzon-based outfit had been clinging on to a 1-1 draw. The last minute penalty was converted by Selcuk Inan to give Gala a fortuitous 2-1 win.
Dursun acted after team-mate Luis Cavanda had been dismissed. Trabzonspor’s players surrounded referee Deniz Bitnel, causing him to drop his red card. Dursun picked it up and waved it at the referee, who was in no mood to see the funny side and instantly sent the player to the stands.
Earlier in the match, midfielder Ozer Hurmaci and defender Aykut Demir had both been sent off after picking up two yellow cards.
It’s not the first time this season that Trabzonspor have been embroiled in refereeing controversy. In October, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, was compelled to intervene after Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu, the club’s president, locked four match officials inside the stadium, following a 2-2 draw with Gaziantepspor. They were eventually released after four hours in captivity.
With such blatant disregard for officialdom, perhaps it was not entirely surprising that the players felt entitled to vent their frustration in such an undisciplined fashion.
