Adana Demirspor Players Leave Game Unfinished After Dubious Penalty Given to Galatasaray.

Adana Demirspor players walked off the pitch against Galatasaray after the referee awarded a dubious penalty.

Dries Mertens had dived onto the legs of an Adana Demirspor player. The referee gave the spot-kick, and Álvaro Morata scored. However, replays made it glaringly obvious that the contact had been exaggerated by Mertens. Despite this revelation, the goal was not overturned, which angered Adana Demirspor fans, players, and officials.

Galatasaray head coach Okan Buruk admitted after the game that it wasn’t a penalty. “In my view, it was more likely not to have been a penalty, but this isn’t the first time mistakes have been made against Adana Demirspor.”

There has been massive criticism of the referee’s decision. Fenerbahçe manager José Mourinho even posted images of the incident on his official X handle.

After the game, Adana Demirspor’s Deputy Chairman, Metin Korkmaz, stated that the players walking off the pitch was a form of protest. “This protest is aimed at the refereeing body, not at Galatasaray.”