Former U.S. President Bill Clinton delivers a eulogy during the memorial service for boxing legend Muhammad Ali in Louisville, Kentucky | Michael B. Thomas/AFP via Getty Images Erdoğan fails to grab spotlight at Muhammad Ali’s funeral Turkish president cut his US trip short after the snub and gave no explanation for his early return.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan abruptly returned home from the United States after organizers of Muhammad Ali's funeral rejected his request to honor the revered boxer with a special gesture that would highlight his Muslim faith.

Erdoğan attended the traditional Muslim prayer ceremony for Ali on Thursday but missed Friday's funeral in Louisville, Kentucky, according to an AP report.

Turkish media reported that Erdoğan was vexed after funeral organizers rejected his request to lay a piece from the cloth covering the Kaaba — located in Islam's most sacred mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia — on Ali's coffin during a funeral ceremony.

They reportedly also denied a request for Turkey's top cleric, traveling with Erdoğan to the U.S., to read from the Quran at the multi-faith service, attended by 14,000 in Ali's hometown, according to Turkish Dogan news agency.

The Turkish president and his office did not provide a statement on the president's early return to Istanbul.

Erdoğan is a long-time admirer of Ali, who converted to Islam at the age of 22.

"While he went from victory to victory in the boxing rings, Muhammad Ali also became the voice of the Muslims in all corners of the world, as well as of the oppressed and aggrieved," Erdoğan said.