The Turkish side Istanbulspor walked off the pitch in an apparent protest at a refereeing decision in their Super Lig game against Trabzonspor on Tuesday. The incident took place as the Turkish top flight resumed following a one-week suspension after a club president punched a referee at the end of a game. Trabzonspor scored to go 2-1 up through Paul Onuachu but Istanbulspor, who sit bottom of the table, felt they should have been awarded a penalty following a clash between Florian Loshaj and Batista Mendy. Istanbulspor’s chairman, Ecmel Faik Sarialioglu, then walked on to the pitch and instructed the team to walk off, with the game stopped in the 73rd minute. Some home players appeared to be reluctant to leave the pitch. The match was then abandoned. “It is a sad day for football,” the Trabzonspor head coach, Abdullah Avci, said. On whether the game would be replayed or the result should stand, Avci said: “We will wait for the football federation’s decision.” The incident, which took place on the first day of the resumption of matches, will come as a huge embarrassment to the Turkish football authorities. The league was suspended after the Ankaragucu president, Faruk Koca, punched the referee Halil Umut Meler after his team’s 1-1 draw with Caykur Rizespor. The Turkish Football Federation imposed a permanent ban on Koca, who was arrested the day after the match. The TFF board also fined the club £54,000 and ruled that Ankaragucu will play five home games without fans as a result of the unrest, where a number of supporters had also invaded the pitch. Elsewhere, Krzysztof Piatek scored two penalties as Istanbul Basaksehir beat Sivasspor 3-1 at home to climb away from the relegation places. Adana Demirspor boosted their European hopes with a fightback to draw 2-2 at Gaziantep.