A Turkish women’s volleyball team was attacked by spectators during a game in Adana, leaving one player requiring stitches to her knee, Agence France-Presse reported, citing the club’s president on Wednesday.
Mesut Karabulut, president of the club from Malatya, a city that was severely affected by earthquakes on February 6, announced he had filed a criminal complaint against opponents İmamoğlu Belediye and their supporters.
“They said unspeakable things to our players and our coaches,” Karabulut said, accusing “an abnormal crowd, mainly men” of throwing both glass and plastic bottles at his team.
One player needed five stitches for a cut to her knee.
“At the end of the match, the stands weren’t emptied and our athletes weren’t allowed to go to the locker room,” he said.
“Glass cups and bottles were thrown onto the court, and some tried to get onto the court to beat our athletes.”
Several players posted photos on social media of bruises on their legs and arms.
Turkey’s women’s volleyball team won this year’s European Championship, but their triumph also led to them coming under attack from religious and ultra-conservative groups.
The incident occurred shortly after Turkish football was suspended following an attack on a referee by several men, including the president of top-flight Ankaragücü, at the end of a match.
Referee Halil Umut Meler was released from a hospital in Ankara on Wednesday after spending the night there for observation and receiving a phone call from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The leagues will resume play on December 19, with the Turkish football federation on Thursday set to announce sanctions against Ankaragücü, whose president Faruk Koca, a member of Erdoğan’s ruling party, has since resigned.
