Football star Hakan Arslan has been condemned by his boss after an extraordinary incident during a match in Turkey, showing a referee a replay on a phone before angrily hurling it to the turf after he was sent off for his cheek.
Midfielder Arslan was ordered off on the stroke of half-time for Sivasspor after a touchline fracas with the match official, brandishing a phone showing a replay of a ball that appeared to have gone out of play in a desperate attempt to prove him wrong.
Already a goal down at Super Lig giants Besiktas, the Europa League side were reduced to ten men as the long-serving stalwart was duly dismissed during the acrimonious row.
"The referee does not allow such things and rightly showed the card," frustrated Sivasspor manager Riza Calımbay told the club's website after his depleted side shipped two more goals in the second half to finish with a 3-0 defeat.
"The match should not have come to this situation. The team captain had to be more careful. That phone should not been there and should not have been shown to the referee.
"The right thing to do would have been to talk about it after the game. This is not the first time we have been exposed to these errors. It happens to all teams.
"There was no place for that on the pitch. We had to keep 11 players - maybe that way, we could have changed the result."
Furious Aslan, who hurled the mobile at the turf as he walked off raging, was backed by club CEO Mecnun Otyakmaz and midfielder Erdogan Yesilyurt.
"It was a bad night for the referees and a negative point for VAR," said Otyakmaz. "We spend money on VAR...so that the matches are managed better. If we spend so much money, we need to get a clear return for it.
"We bring in technology at cost but they do not make a clear decision to explain a position. Did the ball go out or not? How many referees are involved, but still wrong decisions are made?"
Yesilyurt also felt that the fiasco was unfair. "Everyone else can speak, but when we speak they immediately punish us," he complained.
"Our work has been undone here. There can be no such disrespect. The referee tells us, 'hush.' Why are we treated like this? I do not understand.
"You can't talk like that. We are football players...we will appeal. This is not only on the field, but also in life in general."
The defeat ended a three-game winning run for the Sivas-based club and the technology-based furore evoked memories of a flashpoint involving legendary Turkish manager Fatih Terim in 2016.
The then-Turkey boss was told off by the fourth official for wielding his phone and gesticulating on the touchline in order to show replays of a goal by Harry Kane that he felt was offside.
Terim was reported to have had the offending device confiscated as Turkey went on to lose 2-1 at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium.
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