Scenes during Turkey’s top-tier football league turned shocking when Ankaragucu’s president Faruk Koca knocked out the referee with a single punch in the face at the end of their Super Lig home match against Rizespor.
A frustrated Koca ran onto the pitch after his team conceded a 96th-minute equaliser and punched Halil Umut Meler, who eventually made it to the dressing room with the help of the police.
37-year-old Meler is one of Turkey’s top referees and officiates international games for Fifa. He is also on Uefa’s elite referee list.
The Turkish Football Federation later decided to suspend all games in all leagues indefinitely.
'The related club, the club chairman, club officials and all those guilty of attacking referee Umut Meler will be punished in the strongest terms possible,' the federation posted on X.