Beşiktaş president lashes out at ref over Kiev defeat


As Beşiktaş face disciplinary action from UEFA, the Turkish club's chairman slammed Scottish referee Craig Thomson yesterday over his "butchering" of the UEFA Champions League match where the Eagles conceded six goals to Dynamo Kiev.Orman claimed the referee, blasted by the club's fans for handing an "unfair" red card to Beşiktaş's Andreas Beck, would not have made the same mistakes if it were a match between Italian or English clubs. "It was Fenerbahçe last year, Başakşehir three years ago and it is now Beşiktaş," Orman said at a conference he attended in Istanbul yesterday, claiming foreign referees unfairly treated Turkish teams in international competitions.The chairman's statements come amid the announcement of an investigation into the club over its fans' behavior during Tuesday's match in Ukraine's Kiev. Disciplinary proceedings were opened for Beşiktaş accused of crowd disturbance and vandalism while Dynamo Kiev are accused of "insufficient organization," crowd disturbance and blocking stairwells. It was not clear whether UEFA would investigate the stabbing of several Beşiktaş fans before and during the match. Some 10 Turkish supporters were hospitalized for bruises and stab wounds in the critical match that eliminated the Turkish side from the Champions League.Although Orman acknowledged his team's poor performance in the match, he blamed the referee for lowering the morale of the team. "The match was virtually over after the referee awarded a penalty goal to the opposition," he said, referring to Thomson's red card for the Eagles' Beck who was sent off after being adjudged to have fouled Kiev's Derlis Gonzalez. Beck, like Beşiktaş supporters, was surprised over the card he initially thought was designated for the rival team's player after it was him who hit the ground after the collision. Orman said it was not entirely the referee's fault that paved the way for Beşiktaş's defeat and blasted Vincent Aboubakar for the Cameroonian player's "big mistake," referring to the red card he received after he sent a loose ball away in a fit of rage against the referee. He said Aboubakar's exit, which left Beşiktaş reduced to nine men, will be "punished heavily" by the team's disciplinary committee.