A TURKISH football match was marred by controversy after the referee did not see a phantom goal.
Fatsaspor were left ruing a referee error after scoring a legitimate goal against Sebat Genclik in the fourth level of Turkish football.
The visitors had fallen two goals behind after a quickfire double from Samet Bulut and Zekeriya Bulut.
However, they thought they had given themselves a lifeline in the match just seven minutes after the second goal.
Fatsaspor’s No54 Murat Can Bolukbasi curled a beautiful effort over the wall and into the goal to half the deficit.
The ball hit the net with such power that it bounced back out of the goal mouth as players reeled away in celebration.
But the hosts, instead of looking downbeat, kicked the ball away as if to clear it like it was still in play.
The referee appeared to believe the defenders that the ball had not gone in and waved away the protests that it had actually gone in.
Replays of the goal have gone viral on social media with the ball very clearly beating the goalkeeping and hitting the net.
Fans have been left stunned by the decision as they shared their reactions.
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One posted: “You’d be absolutely fuming wouldn’t you.”
A second wrote: “Just mental.”
A third commented: “You’d just walk off wouldn’t ya.”
A fourth said: “How did the refs miss it.”
Another added: “The country’s football is being dragged to the bottom.”
Fatsapor president Ahmet Aydemir has hit out at the decision in an appearance on Turkish television.
He said: “It’s impossible not to see or miss the goal. The ball bounced off the net.
“Despite this, the goal was disallowed. We were all shocked.
“The linesman said the ball didn’t cross the line. However, he had already started running towards the midfield.
“We really couldn’t make sense of what happened.”
It is not the first controvesial decision to come out of Turkey with officials being questioned regularly.
Kasimpasa midfielder Kerem Demirbay was sent off with two quick yellow cards for dissent.
One official was also seen as farcical by fans for conduting a pitch inspection in full kit despite there being at least a foot of snow on the grass.
