Turkey hit out at Iceland over ‘racist’ treatment at airport

● Toilet brush jibe and security delays rile Turkish squad

Turkey have lodged a formal protest against authorities in Iceland over the way their squad was treated on its arrival for tonight’ s Euro 2020 qualifying match.

The Turkish team complained they were delayed at Keflavik Airport on Sunday while officials searched bags at a slow pace. Icelandic airport officials have defended the searches as routine and sought to blame the delay on some of the Turkish players for not being cooperative.

Frustration escalated once the team were through security, when an unidentified man held a cleaning brush up to team captain Emre Belezoglu, pictured, who was speaking to media. Video footage shows the brush pop ping up toward Belezoglu’s face as if it was a microphone.

Turkish media slammed the treatment as “disrespectful” and “racist” and the country’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said in a tweet it was “unacceptable from the point of diplomatic and humane practices”.

Iceland’s ministry of foreign affairs confirmed that a formal protest has been lodged.

The Turkish team flew to Iceland for tonight’ s European qualifier at the Laugardalsvo ll ur stadium in the capital Reykjavik. They travelled from the Turkish city of Konya after beating world champions France 2-0 on Saturday in a Group H qualifier. Iceland’ s airport operator, ISAVIA, said the inspections were mandatory for arrivals from outside the remit of agreements with the Euro - pea nU ni on. However, it acknowledged that the team had waited longer than usual to clear security due to a lack of cooperation.

“Requests to remove electronics and liquid were not entirely met ,” the operator said in a statement. Still, it said that the procedure was “swift” and that the players had got through customs within 80 minutes from landing – disputing Turkish media reports of a two-hour long wait.

Iceland’s team also said they have had to deal with delays on returning home too, notably in 2015 after returning from Konya. “It was similar. Passport control and detailed bag inspection,” said Iceland captain Aron Gunnarsson at yesterday’s pre-match press conference.

Iceland coach Erik Hamren would not comment on the issue. “I focus on the football,” he said.