The Turkish Football Association has given Marcão an eight-game suspension for his red card against Giresunspor on Monday (0-2 win). Galatasaray’s 25-year-old centre-back suddenly became aggressive in the second half against Kerem Aktürkoglu, who was headbutted and punched by his teammate. Marcão was also not included in the selection of Galatasaray on Thursday for the game in the Conference League play-offs against the Danish Randers.
In the second half of the match, Galatasaray seemed to have taken a 0-2 lead and played against ten Giresunspor players. Yet suddenly the flames caught on and Marcão stormed furiously at Aktürkoglu. The Brazilian defender gave a kind of push with his head against that of the Turk and then also started hitting his teammate. Marcão was then shown red by referee Erkan Özdamar and Aktürkoglu was replaced by Gala coach Fatih Terim.
— vidfooty (@vidfooty1) August 16, 2021
Turkish media denounced the incident. Marcão himself went deep into the dust and apologized in a video on Instagram. “As a son who lives for his family, first of all I would like to ask Kerem’s parents for forgiveness by kissing their hands,” said the Brazilian. “Of course I also apologize to my brother Kerem. I know you will not easily forget this.”
“There will be Galatasaray fans who will never forgive me,” Marcão continued. “I know because I know this club and its supporters very well. Before coming to Galatasaray, I was a young boy in a difficult situation. More difficult than you can imagine. If I hadn’t been taken care of here, I could have disappeared. It pains me to disappoint those who have helped me. I respect all decisions made about me. But I have one request: I must pay the price for this matter, not my wife and children. “
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