Turkish protest: President takes players off pitch over referee decision in Istanbulspor v Trabzonspor

Istanbulspor president was unhappy his side were not awarded a penalty straight before Trabzonspor went 2-1 up

A Turkish top-flight game was suspended after Istanbulspor's president withdrew his team from the pitch in protest at a refereeing decision in their match against Trabzonspor.

The incident came on the day Turkish football resumed, a week after it was suspended when a referee was punched.

Trabzonspor were leading 2-1 after Paul Onuachu's header in the 68th minute.

But Istanbulspor claimed they should have had a penalty prior to their opponents' second goal being scored.

President Ecmel Faik Sarıalioglu went down to the pitch and withdrew his players in protest in the 73rd minute.

Some Istanbulspor players tried to persuade the president to reconsider his decision, with Ivory Coast defender Simon Deli pictured kneeling in front of him.

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

Trabzonspor posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the match "was stopped in the 73rd minute due to the players of the opposing team withdrawing from the field".

Istanbulspor are bottom of the Super Lig.

'It was the last straw' - Istanbulspor

In a club statement from Sarıalioglu and vice-president Bayram Saral on Wednesday explaining their action, they claimed the club had suffered more from "blatant refereeing errors" than anyone else in the league.

They said Tuesday's "refereeing error" was the "last straw".

The Turkish Football Federation has not yet made an official statement or made any decision on the result of the match.

"The decision to withdraw from the field has nothing to do with the players and managers of our opponent Trabzonspor," the club said. "Likewise, to attribute the decision to withdraw from the pitch solely to the referee's error in this match is to oversimplify the incident."

They claim they are the "club that has suffered the most from the blatant refereeing errors made against us since the first week of the league".

They then listed seven incidents this season where they feel an error occurred against them and they sent to the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) board of directors earlier this month.

The club say Sarıalioglu had requested a meeting with TFF chief Mehmet Buyukeksi.

"The fact that our reactions against the refereeing errors we explained above were ignored by the TFF for weeks and this situation was continuous, eventually created a "justified tension" in our community, and yesterday's obvious refereeing error was the last straw," they added.

Sarıalioglu said after Tuesday's match he had spoken to the TFF and Buyukeksi on the phone, adding: "Today they called and said you can come any time you want."

In a statement to local media, he added: "The players are right. If there is only one person I have to apologise to here, it is my players and technical team. I will give them their bonuses as if they won this match."

Last week, Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca was arrested after he ran on to the pitch and struck referee Halil Umut Meler following a 1-1 draw with Caykur Rizespor.

The incident, which attracted worldwide attention and was widely condemned, saw the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) suspend all leagues in the country for a week.

Koca has been given a permanent ban by the TFF.

As fixtures resumed on Tuesday, children wearing T-shirts that said "respect" presented flowers to the referees before Basaksehir's match with Sivasspor.

Children give flowers to the match officials before the Turkish Super League soccer match between Istanbul Basaksehir and Sivasspor