Turkish Super Lig

Fenerbahce will consider withdrawing from the Turkish top flight after some of their players were attacked by Trabzonspor fans following their weekend away win, the Super Lig club said on Monday.

Trabzonspor supporters stormed the pitch and brawled with security forces and Fenerbahce players after their team lost 3-2 on Sunday in the latest incident in a league that has been marred by controversy this season.

Fenerbahce fight with Trabzonspor fans

All professional soccer leagues in Turkey were suspended earlier in December after the president of Ankaragucu punched a referee in the face. Fast forward a little over a week later and another brawl has taken place at a Turkish soccer game.

The incident with the referee getting punched forced the Turkish Football Federation to suspend all leagues for one week on Dec. 11. 

ANKARA — The president of top tier Turkish soccer club Ankaragucu, Faruk Koca, was arrested on Tuesday for punching a referee in the face at the end of a match, with the official telling police that Koca had threatened to kill him.

The arrest followed an outbreak of violence during Super Lig club Ankaragucu's home match against Rizespor on Monday evening.

Referee Halil Umut Meler, who was also kicked while lying on the pitch, said that Koca had also threatened him and his colleagues, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.

USMNT and Antalyaspor striker Haji Wright scored twice and got an assist during Saturday’s Turkish Süper Lig game vs. Kayserispor where his side won 4-0.

Wright missed all of February and most of January with a thigh injury and made his return to the field on March 6. He rediscovered his goal scoring form Saturday netting his fourth brace of the season.

ANKARA — Missing footballer Christian Atsu was scheduled to fly out of southern Turkey hours before last week's devastating earthquake, but Hatayspor's manager said the Ghanaian opted to stay with the club after scoring a winning goal in their Feb. 5 Super Lig match.

"Atsu wanted to play more and asked for permission from his coach to leave if he wasn't going to get it," Hatayspor manager Fatih Ilek told a radio channel on Friday.

"He bought a ticket to fly to Istanbul, and from there to France. He was going to look for a club to get more playing time."

Ghanaian soccer player Christian Atsu remains missing after two devastating earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria, Hatayspor director Volkan Demirel told Reuters on Wednesday

Atsu, 31, was reported to have been rescued from the rubble with injuries and transported to hospital following Monday's huge quakes.

"There is no information on his whereabouts yet, we don't know where he is," Demirel said. "It's not the case that he was pulled out or taken anywhere else."

The combined death toll in Turkey and Syria has risen to at least 2,600 from two earthquakes that struck the countries within the space of 12 hours. That number is expected to increase rapidly with many people still missing and trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings.

One of those still unaccounted for is former Newcastle winger and Ghana international Christian Atsu after the collapse of an apartment building in Hatay, Turkey.