Trabzonspor player Salih Dursun sent off for showing red card to referee

The Turkish Super Lig side, who were narrowly defeated by Galatasaray, ended the match with just seven players

Trabzonspor’s Salih Dursun was sent off on Sunday after picking up a red card and showing it to a Turkish Super Lig referee, moments after the official had sent off his team-mate.

At the time of the incident, referee Deniz Bitzel had already shown red cards to three Kaplanlar players and reduced them to eight men when a group surrounded him, causing him to drop his red card.

Dursun collected it from the ground and brandished it in anger at Bitzel and the official duly returned the favour.

The 24-year-old right back was incensed by the decision to send off team-mate Luis Cavanda, who conceded a clumsy penalty late on with the score at 1-1.

Earlier in the match, Trabzonspor’s Ozer Hurmaci and Aykut Demir were each shown two yellow cards, while only Wesley Sneijder and Lukas Podolski were booked from the opposition.

Despite ending the game against just seven men, opponents Galatasaray still required the late penalty to steal victory from the ill-tempered affair at the Türk Telekom Arena.

Players showing cards to match officials is not unprecedented. During his time at Rangers, Paul Gascoigne was booked in a fixture against Hibernian after showing referee Dougie Smith a yellow card in jest.

Former Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer showed Matt Messias a red card after the official inadvertently elbowed Leicester City’s Robbie Savage in the face.

Trabzonspor also experienced issues with referees earlier in the season. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan was forced to intervene after club president Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu locked four officials inside the stadium after a 2-2 draw with Gaziantrepspor.