While Galatasaray win 4-2 over Kardemir Karabükspor on Sunday and stay on top of Super League, their Dutch star Wesley Sneijder was forced to apologize after releasing a set of commemorative Galatasaray knives on the 15th anniversary of the murders of two Leeds fans in Istanbul. The Dutch star caused uproar on Twitter by announcing the availability of the knife set but has since deleted the tweet and apologized saying he did not know about the deaths, according to The Daily Record. The Dutch international tweeted: "Finally, my Galatasaray knife set is now available and can be delivered everywhere." The set of knives, emblazoned with Galatasaray's colors, are produced by the Dutch firm Senvi and are available for about $33. After deleting the tweet, the midfielder sent a tweet to an angry fan that stated: "Very sorry. I didn't know this and deleted our promotion for the merchandise kitchen item #respect."
Four men were indicted for murder within a week after damning CCTV evidence was released. One of them, Ali Ümit Demir, was the tenant of the apartment where police found a knife stained with the blood of both victims. Leeds fans had planned to honor the memories of Speight and Loftus this weekend by holding up photos of the two murdered men at the home game with Blackburn Rovers. Demir admitted to the stabbings and was sentenced to 15 years in prison in May 2002, while the other men were imprisoned for three months each. Within a year, however, Demir, was released and a re-trial was ordered following an appeal. Demir was convicted for a second time in June 2007 and sentenced to 80 months.
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