The Argentine international Mauro Icardi, forward of the Turkish club Galatasaray, must pay a fine equivalent to 7,500 euros ($8,200) for criticizing the referee after his team lost to Basaksehir in the Turkish Cup, the Turkish Football Federation reported on Tuesday.
“Mauro Emanuel Icardi has been punished with a fine of 150,000 lire for sharing statements directed against the referee on social networks”, said the Disciplinary Council of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) in a statement today.
The match, played last Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Turkish Cup, ended in a 3-2 defeat for Galatasaray, after the referee and the VAR assistant invalidated two goals from the red and yellow team, which was thus eliminated from the tournament.
Similarly, in that match, Mauro Icardi was able to score one of Galatasaray’s two goals, while Kaan Ayhan completed the list of scorers.
Galatasaray manager Okan Buruk said after the game that he did not dare to protest because “there is no democracy”but Icardi, who had scored one of the two valid goals, spread a message on Instagram in which he branded the attitude of “shame” and “scandal”according to the Turkish press.
In the video, later deleted, the player described the referee’s decision as “robbery of the year” and called for the resignation of the president of the Turkish central council of referees, Lale Ortak, reports the station NTVSpor.
The TFF has also fined Galatasaray, its chairman Dursun Özbek and Basaksehir manager Emre Belözoglu for “violating sportsmanship” in post-match statements.
Now, Galatasaray will have to face Kayserispor on their next date in the Turkish League. Currently, the orange team from Turkey is the undisputed leader of the League with 63 points, with Fenerbahçe being its closest rival with 57 points.