Turkish football team appeals to UEFA over referee

ISTANBUL

Turkish side Fenerbahce will apply to football’s European governing body UEFA and its local equivalent in Turkey over alleged refereeing mistakes in Thursday’s Europa League match, the club said on Friday.

“The application will especially focus on the subject of ‘betting manipulation’,” the club said in a statement.

Fenerbahce was eliminated from the Europa League after losing 4-1 to Portugal’s Braga in the last-16, second-leg match.

Croatian football referee Ivan Bebek has been harshly criticized in Turkey for his decisions during the match where the Istanbul side saw three red cards and a penalty awarded against them.

The Turkish club said that “scandalous referee management” was seen by the world at Thursday’s match.

“It is not possible to describe what happened yesterday as [only] a ‘refereeing mistake’,” the club said.

The Istanbul team said that it would contact UEFA as well as the Turkish Football Federation to shed light on the reasons behind the alleged refereeing faults at the match.

Fenerbahce had won the first-leg match 1-0 in Istanbul.