Rivals cry foul over Galatasaray subs

ISTANBUL

Controversy has erupted over Galatasaray’s possible break of its foreign players quota during the win over Kasımpaşa.

Some pundits and rival fans claimed the Lions had seven foreign players on the pitch – more than the allotted six - for a few seconds.

Coach Fatih Terim substituted Hamit Altıntop and Swedish Johan Elmander in the 74th minute, bringing Brazilian Felipe Melo and Sercan Yıldırım in. Former referee Ahmet Çakar claimed that Hamit left the pitch for Melo to create an overflow of the foreign player quota, while his German counterpart Markus Merk said there was no problem.

Fans of Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş, Galatasaray’s rivals, took it to social media, crying foul over the incident.

Replays showed that the game did not restart before both players left the pitch, and Melo waited for Elmander to come off.