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Galatasaray head coach Okan Buruk addressed the controversial withdrawal of Adana Demirspor from their Turkish Super Lig match, which was abandoned in the 23rd week after the visitors left the pitch.
Buruk emphasized that the decision was not an innocent one, stating, "We didn’t expect this, but apparently, some people were waiting for it and immediately posted tweets. I don’t want to take anyone’s guilt... I congratulate Adana Demirspor's players; they were fighting really well. The fans had a banner saying, ‘We never gave up.’"
He continued, "In my opinion, it was more likely that it wasn’t a penalty. This is not the first mistake made against Adana Demirspor. I don’t believe this was an innocent, spontaneous decision."
Buruk also revealed that his players wanted to continue the match, saying, "The players wanted to play, they asked, ‘What happened?’ Maybe we would have won by a different margin, maybe Adana Demirspor would have earned a point."
"They have very young players here, and suddenly someone calls and tells them to pull the team off the field. I don’t think what happened was innocent," he added.
Adana Demirspor players walked off the pitch during the first half of their away match against Galatasaray on Sunday after the referee awarded a penalty against them.
The incident occurred in the 30th minute, following a penalty converted by Alvaro Morata, giving Galatasaray a 1-0 lead. The Adana Demirspor players stormed off the field in protest. After the walk-off, the referee's team went to speak with the players in the dressing room. The exchange led to the announcement that the match at Rams Park stadium had been abandoned.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that the bottom-of-the-table Adana Demirspor players walked off in protest over "referee corruption."
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