You can't imagine the number of punishment dates that footballer Arda Turan received in the Turkish League. Incredible.
The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) has imposed a 16-match ban on Turkish midfielder Arda Turan, who plays for Basaksehir, for attacking and threatening a linesman in a match of the Turkish Super League, played last Friday.
According to a statement released today on the TFF's website, the disciplinary committee of the institution has imposed a 10-match ban on Arda Turan for assaulting a linesman, three more matches for subsequent insults, and three more for threats made afterwards.
The total punishment thus reaches the record figure of 16 matches, in addition to a fine of 39,000 Turkish liras (about 7,700 euros, at the current exchange rate).
The incident took place last Friday in a match of the Turkish Super League between Sivasspor and Basaksehir, a club from Istanbul where Turan has been playing since the beginning of the year, after being loaned out by Barcelona.
Arda Turan got angry after an own goal by a Basaksehir player, which leveled the score (1-1), and walked towards the assistant referee threatening him with a raised fist and then pushing him with both hands.
He was sent off with a direct red card and his own teammates had to take him off the field to calm him down, according to the Turkish press.
Arda Turan, former midfielder of Atletico Madrid, who played for Barcelona since 2015 and is on loan to Basaksehir until 2020, is the most popular footballer in Turkey, but also one of the most controversial for being involved in several incidents with sports journalists. EFE