Klinsman would be in awe

Controversy is still raging in Turkish football at the moment concerning Fenerbahce's 5-0 bashing up of Samsunspor on Saturday night.

On the 20th minute mark a penalty was given against Samsunspor when the ref Serdar Tatli adjudged that goalkeeper Kerem Inan fouled Marcio Nobre in the box. Kerem was immediately shown the red card and the rest of the match became a procession.

T.V. replays, however, show that Kerem was nowhere near Nobre and instead of the penalty Nobre should have been given a card.

Now the Turkish papers have gone wild in accusing the ref of being stupid for giving the penalty when he could not have been sure. Udo Steven Bassey in the TDN launched quite a spray which can be seen here.

A short excerpt:

Sorry, sorry, sorry, Mr. Tatli. But a referee is not meant to act on instincts. He/she has to be dead sure before making a decision. You award a dubious penalty, send off an innocent first-choice keeper of a team, completely demoralize the team with a controversial decision, and then say "sorry, sorry, sorry." Nonetheless, the result stands. Of what use then is the "sorry, sorry, sorry."

Isn't a point being missed here? The ref was fooled into giving the penalty because of a top-class dive from Nobre. Where are the headlines like "Nobre is a cheat", "Nobre brings football into disrepute" or "Why oh why can't our local boys dive like Nobre?".

If there was any justice in this league, and I understand there isn't, Nobre would be booed every time he gets the ball for the rest of the season. It won't happen however and Fenerbahce will continue their stroll and win the league.