Icardi fined financially for criticising a referee

Galatasaray's Argentina international striker Mauro Icardi will be fined 7,500 euros for criticising the referee after his team lost to Basaksehir in the Turkish Cup, the Turkish Football Federation said on Tuesday.

"Mauro Emanuel Icardi has been punished with a fine of 150,000 liras for sharing on social media statements directed against the referee," the Turkish Football Federation's (TFF) Disciplinary Council said in a statement on Tuesday.

The match, played last Wednesday in the quarter-finals of the Turkish Cup, ended in a 3-2 defeat for Galatasaray, after the referee and the VAR assistant disallowed two goals by Icardi's side, who were eliminated from the tournament.

Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk said after the match that he did not dare protest because "there is no democracy", but Icardi, who had scored one of the two valid goals, posted a message on Instagram calling the attitude "shameful" and "scandalous", according to Turkish media reports.

In the video, which was later deleted, the player called the referee's decision the "robbery of the year" and called for the resignation of the president of the Turkish central referees' council, Lale Ortak, reports broadcaster 'NTVSpor'.