Trabzonspor player sent off after showing referee the red card

Trabzonspor player Salih Dursun was sent off after showing the referee the red card during an argument over a penalty decision on Feb. 21 in a Spor Toto Super League game against Galatasaray.

Dursun seized his opportunity after teammate Luis Cavanda had been dismissed in the final minute of the game for bringing down striker Umut Bulut inside the penalty box. 

Trabzonspor players, already reduced in number after two earlier red cards, surrounded referee Deniz Ate? Bitnel, causing him to drop his red card. 

Dursun picked it up and waved it at the referee, who took it back and returned the favor, sending off the player.

Galatasaray's Selçuk ?nan successfully converted the penalty and the home side beat seven-man Trabzonspor 2-1.

Trabzonspor coach Hami Mand?ral? was furious at the referee after the game, but also criticized his own player.

"We came here to play football, but the entire country saw the referee's decision," he said.

"But whatever happens, I always tell my players to concentrate on the ball on the pitch," the former Turkish international, who spent his entire career at Trabzonspor. "Whoever does something like Salih did, it is wrong. Such actions harm everyone."

But Salih's actions touched off "red card mania" among Trabzonspor fans, with thousands of supporters uploading the photo of him showing a red card to the referee as their profile photos.

The player also received support from Bursaspor, the only club to have won the Turkish league title besides the three big Istanbul clubs and Trabzonspor. 

"Salih Dursun is now a symbol for not only Trabzonspor but also Anatolia, and he is also our son from now on," the club, which has been engaged in a war of words with the...