Sport Ankaragücü
Club president resigns after attack on referee
Status: 6:50 p.m. | Reading time: 2 minutes
Violence scandal in Turkish football – “Even the war in Gaza only plays a minor role today”
There is no football in Turkey at the moment, the country is in shock: Ankaragücü’s club boss Faruk Koca brutally attacked the referee during a first division game. An arrest warrant has now been issued against him and two other suspects. Türkiye correspondent Marion Sendker classifies the situation.
His punch against a referee outraged the sports world. Now the Turkish club president Faruk Koca from Ankaragücü is drawing conclusions and resigning – with a wordy statement.
After his attack on the referee in a first division game in Turkey, the president of the Ankaragücü club has announced his resignation. Faruk Koca apologized in a letter on Tuesday evening for his behavior the evening before and explained that his resignation was intended to prevent further damage to his club.
Nothing could legitimize or explain the violence he committed, said Koca’s statement, which Ankaragücü published on the social media platform X. Koca wrote that he had always advocated fair play and was embarrassed that he had now “created an environment that was exactly the opposite.”
Faruk Koca (M) stretched referee Halil Umut Meler to the ground
Quelle: dpa/Abdurrahman Antakyali
On Monday evening there were wild scenes after the football game between Ankaragücü and Rizespor. Koca punched referee Halil Umut Meler in the face after the final whistle, videos showed. Meler then fell to the ground and other people involved then kicked him. Rizespor equalized 1-1 in the seventh minute of added time.
Initially, Koca defended his behavior. The incident was due to “wrong decisions and provocative behavior of the referee,” he said, according to the state news agency Anadolu. “My intention was to respond verbally to the referee and spit in his face.”
Even Erdogan got involved
That evening, the Turkish Football Association called an urgent meeting, announced “the harshest” penalties against everyone involved and postponed games in all leagues indefinitely.
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The case caused so much attention that… Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan felt compelled to take a stand. “Sport means peace and brotherhood. Sport is incompatible with violence. We will never allow violence to enter Turkish sport,” he said.
“The events following the Turkish Süper Lig match between MKE Ankaragücü and Çaykur Rizespor are completely unacceptable and have no place in our sport and in our society,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino wrote on Instagram.
