Istanbul club Beşiktaş on Thursday rejected an order to resume a football derby that was halted by a brawl, denouncing the decision as "unlawful," according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency.
The Turkish Football Federation had on Wednesday ruled that the game should resume on May 3, with the score level at 0-0 at minute 57, the point at which the game was suspended last week because of violence between players and fans.
"We have been on the pitch for 115 years, we have always won, tied or lost on the pitch," Beşiktaş said in a statement, carried by Anadolu.
"We would like to note that we have decided not to play the game, set to take place on Thursday, May 3, in response to this unlawful decision," it added.
The federation had separately ordered that the team's rivals, Fenerbahçe, play three upcoming home games without fans present, while two players from Beşiktaş have been banned from their next game.
Fenerbahçe was separately fined 1 million liras (244,000 dollars).
Tensions were already high at the game on April 19 in Istanbul when Beşiktaş coach Şenol Güneş was hit on the head by a thrown object. He received stitches in the locker room and was then taken to hospital for a head injury.
After the coach's injury, a brawl broke out between players.
An Istanbul court officially arrested three people on Thursday in connection the events at the derby, Anadolu reported. The three people admitted to having thrown objects, including a lighter and a pencil.
A formal investigation was opened last week and dozens of people have been detained. It was not clear whether the fan accused of throwing the item that hit Güneş was among those arrested on Thursday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has claimed a "plot" was behind the incident, which has rocked the Turkish football community.
