Galatasaray have terminated the contract of Younes Belhanda with immediate effect for criticizing the pitch condition of the Turk Telekom Arena.

In a bizarre set of affairs, Belhanda criticized the poor ground conditions in a televised interview on BEIN Sports after the 2-2 draw against Sivasspor.

The pitch conditions were poor to say the least but he also criticized club officials which did not go down well.

“Of course the pitch conditions had an effect on our game,” Belhanda was quoted as saying by the official Galatasaray Twitter page.

“The Galatasaray directors need to find a solution.

“They know we like to play football and play a passing game, they need to solve this.

“Instead of posing for photographs on Instagram and ranting on Twitter perhaps, they should sort out the pitch.”

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Galatasaray released an official statement confirming that Belhanda no longer plays for the club.

The Lions claim they terminated his contract for ‘just reasons’.

The Morrocco international joined the Lions in 2017 and helped the Istanbul giants lift two Turkish Super Lig titles, one Turkish Cup and one Turkish Super Cup.

The 31-year-old scored 22 goals and made 26 assists in 131 games for Yellow-Reds.

This comes at a crucial point in the season. Galatasaray are in the title race, just two points behind leaders Besiktas.