ANKARA — Soccer referees in international tournaments are used to criticism from fans, players and coaches but rarely from world leaders, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan became an exception on Tuesday when he criticized the referee of the European soccer championship quarterfinal between Turkey and the Netherlands.
“There were referee decisions during the match that we found difficult to accept and understand,” Erdogan said, speaking in a televised speech after a cabinet meeting.
The Netherlands beat Turkey 2-1 on July 6 in the game officiated by French referee Clement Turpin.
Erdogan refrained from specifying what decisions he was criticizing, but Turpin came under fire from Turkish fans for giving a yellow card instead of a red during a second-half clash between Netherlands midfielder Xavi Simons and Turkey defender Mert Muldur. While a red card means the immediate expulsion of a player, yellow offers a warning. Fans were also unhappy with Turpin’s oversight of what they describe as uncaught fouls.
