Turkish Club President Locks Refs In Stadium Overnight For Not Calling Penalty

Ibrahim Hacıosmanoğlu, president of Turkish Süper Lig club Trabzonspor, was upset with the referees after his team’s 2-2 draw against Gaziantepspor. So much so, he instructed stadium security not to let the refs out of the of building, holding them captive until 4 a.m. the next day, only releasing them after a call from the country’s President.

The Guardian has the details of the insane night:

The enraged club president, Ibrahim Hacıosmanoğlu, ordered Çağatay Şahan and his assistant referees to be detained after Trabzonspor were denied a penalty in the final minutes of the top-flight match against Gaziantepspor, which ended 2-2.

Angry supporters gathered outside the stadium and the referees were locked in until the early hours of Thursday, when there was a personal intervention from [Turkey President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan, for whom Hacıosmanoğlu said he had a “bond of love and respect”.

“I told stadium security not to let the referees leave until the morning, until I arrived, but a very important person called me and asked me not to cause embarrassment in Turkey and around the world. He promised the [penalty] incident would be investigated,” Hacıosmanoğlu said in a television interview with Doğan news agency, referring to Erdoğan.

The match kicked off at 9:45 p.m. on Wednesday, and the refs weren’t escorted out until 4 a.m. Thursday morning. The Turkish Football Federation is investigating and released the following statement:

“This unlawfulness cannot be justified by any erroneous referee decision and has caused deep discomfort in the whole football world … All efforts will be made to ensure that the related persons be tried not only under sports law but also criminal law.”

More like Trappedzonspor, amirite?

[ Guardian]

h/t dfoliver

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