Turkish soccer match abandoned after players walk off in protest at refereeing decisions

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish soccer team Adana Demirspor walked off the field on Sunday to protest refereeing decisions, causing the Super Lig match against host Galatasaray to be abandoned.

Galatasaray was leading 1-0 following a controversial penalty — which its own head coach thought shouldn’t have been awarded — when Adana players decided to walk off in the 30th minute of the top-tier game.

“If a referee mistake was made, it will be evaluated,” Galatasaray head coach Okan Buruk said. “In my opinion, it was a position closer to not being a penalty.”

He added: “This is not the first mistake made against Adana Demirspor.”

The penalty was awarded in the 11th minute after Dries Mertens was apparently tripped. Despite television replays showing that the former Napoli player had seemingly dived, the video assistant referee confirmed the penalty, which was converted by new signing Alvaro Morata.

Adana reportedly grew increasingly frustrated by other refereeing decisions, prompting the club’s decision to pull the players off the field — to resounding jeers from fans.

Galatasaray’s website said its team “will win the match by default,” though the official decision will be made by the Turkish Football Federation.

“This is a great harm done to Turkish football,” Buruk said. “I am saddened for Turkish soccer. There is always an effort to make Turkish soccer look bad to the outside world.”

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer