Galatasaray youngster praised for deliberate penalty miss

ANKARA (Reuters) - The captain of Galatasaray's Under-14 team has earned praise with a rare act of sportsmanship as he deliberately missed a penalty following what he believed was a wrong call by the referee.

Beknaz Almazbekov, Galatasaray's 13-year-old captain, dribbled inside from the left and fell down under pressure from an Istanbulspor defender in the box.

The referee gave a penalty, but Almazbekov disagreed.

With his team already winning 1-0, he rejected the opportunity to double their lead and intentionally kicked the ball out of play. The match took place on March 24.

Almazbekov's side went on to beat Istanbulspor 3-0.

(Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Daren Butler and Christian Radnedge)