
Turkey’s sports minister lashed out on Monday at moves by the football authorities to punish two top Ivorian club players for paying homage to Nelson Mandela.
Didier Drogba and Emmanuel Eboue have been threatened with disciplinary action by the Turkish Football Federation for violating a ban on wearing political slogans on T-shirts – triggering outrage on Twitter.
Turkish Sports Minister Suat Kilic called on the federation to review its decision against the two star players with Istanbul giant Galatasaray.
“I don’t find it a healthy choice in terms of Turkey’s image abroad and the two footballers’ (freedom of) expression,” he said.