Osayi-Samuel among Fenerbahçe players facing discipline after altercation with fans

Nigerian international Bright Osayi-Samuel is one of three Fenerbahçe players who will appear at a disciplinary hearing of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) following a bust-up with Trabzonspor fans, Agence France-Presse reported, citing the TFF on Monday.

Home supporters invaded the pitch at Trabzonspor’s stadium after the final whistle of the Super Lig match on March 17 that Fenerbahçe won 3-2.

The attacks took place after the Fenerbahçe players and coaching staff celebrated their victory, with goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic getting punched in the face.

Osayi-Samuel, 26, punched one of the supporters who ran onto the pitch with his face masked, with Dutch defender Jayden Oosterwolde accused of kicking the same supporter.

A third player will also appear before the disciplinary body along with two club employees for “fighting,” the TFF said.

A Trabzonspor assistant coach will also appear before the disciplinary board.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino condemned the violence as “absolutely unacceptable.”

Thirteen Trabzonspor supporters were arrested, five of whom were put in pretrial detention.

It was the latest violent incident to affect Turkish football this season.

The championship was earlier suspended for a week when the president of Ankaragücü attacked a referee at the end of a first division match.

A number of recent Fenerbahçe trips to Trabzon have also been marred by violence.

A 2016 game against Trabzonspor was abandoned in the closing minutes after an assistant referee was attacked by a home supporter.

The year before that the Fenerbahçe team bus came under attack from a gunman en route to the airport on the way back from the neighboring Black Sea city of Rize, leaving the driver seriously injured.

In 2014 a match between Trabzonspor and Fenerbahçe was called off at half-time after the Istanbul club’s players were pelted with objects thrown onto the pitch by home fans.

Trabzonspor, which won the Turkish title two years ago, also found themselves in the spotlight in 2015 when the club president locked the referee and his assistants inside the stadium overnight in protest of a decision to not award his team a penalty.

They were eventually released in the early hours of the following morning after a phone call from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

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