Istanbul, April 5 (IANS): A bus carrying Turkish football club Fenerbahce team players, which was returning from an away match, came under attack, leaving the driver getting seriously injured.

Several gunshots were fired at the bus late Saturday as the Turkish league leaders were returning to Istanbul after beating Rizespor 5-1 in the Black Sea city of Rize, Xinhua quoted the club's vice-president Mahmut Uslu as saying.

The driver was shot in the face and taken to hospital, said Uslu, who was himself on the bus. He accused the attackers of trying to "crash the bus and kill the players".

"We were travelling across the viaduct when the incident occurred. The driver was shot and we are lucky not to have had a serious crash that would have destroyed the bus," Uslu said.

None of the players were injured in the attack. Pictures of the bus showed a windshield pocked by bullet holes.

The Turkish Football Federation condemned the incident "in the strongest possible terms" and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.