Football
ESPN staff 6y

Turkey's Cenk Tosun sees red, makes throat-slit gesture towards fan

Turkey's Cenk Tosun appeared to make a throat-slitting gesture towards a fan and had to be restrained by his teammates in a 2-2 draw with Tunisia in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday.

Tosun, who joined Everton from Besiktas in January, had just scored a penalty to put his team ahead in the second half but Tunisia quickly equalised.

Five minutes later, the game was stopped when Tosun ran towards the sideline and pointed to the stand. He continued to shout into the crowd as teammates tried in vain to get him to calm down, and the referee showed him a red card.

Tosun reportedly said after the game that he had seen an altercation involving his father breaking out in the stand, and apologised for his reaction.

"When I turned my head, I saw a quarrel with my father," Tosun told reporters, according to Goal. "I didn't know the whole story. I told them that they were wrong, threatened, unworthy of me.

"Character is more important than football. It was an unbecoming gesture. I apologise. I guarantee it won't happen again."

Tunisia captain Ferjani Sassi put his side ahead in the 79th minute when his low shot went in off goalkeeper Serkan Kirintili's right-hand post.

Turkey then levelled in the 90th minute when Caglar Soyuncu scored from close range following a quickly-taken free kick, a goal that sparked a pitch invasion by its fans.

Tunisia will open its World Cup Group G programme against England on June 18 before going on to play Belgium and Panama.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

^ Back to Top ^