Alper Ulusoy punished for controversial calls

Friday night’s match between Konyaspor and Besiktas was marred by controversy due to the referee’s decisions.

Alper Ulusoy has been one of the most discussed names on Turkish sports news platforms this weekend. The referee was the man in charge of the match between Konyaspor and Besiktas this past Friday (February 16th). The teams shared the points as the match ended a 1-1 draw however Ulusoy made some very controversial calls.

The general consensus has been that his decision to show Talisca a yellow card, which led to him being automatically suspended for next week’s derby against Fenerbahce, for what looked like a foul against an opposition player was wrong. The situation has been extensively discussed by football TV pundits and video replays have shown the Konyaspor player had simulated his fall.

In addition to this mistake, the referee showed a yellow card to another Besiktas player, Caner Erkin in the seventh minute of extra time in the second half.

The Turkish Football Federation have stated Ulusoy will not officiate any Besiktas matches for the rest of the season as well as be off refereeing duty for four weeks. It is expected that he will be demoted to the lower leagues in the future.