Property with Turkey’s Supercup in Saudi Arabia

Waited in vain: They should come through this alley. Image: picture alliance / Anadolu

The Turkish Football Super Cup in Saudi Arabia is over before kick-off: the controversy surrounding the game in Riyadh shows how deeply divided society is in Atatürk’s republic.

It was supposed to be a promotional event for Turkish football. For the first time, the Turkish Super Cup was planned to be held in another country and in Saudi Arabia. However, the guest appearance of the top Istanbul clubs Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe ended before it even kicked off. The Saudi organizers had promised the clubs an income of four million dollars, and the Turkish football association TFF would not have left empty-handed either. However, nothing will come of this for the time being. Even the recently improved relations between the Republic of Turkey and the Saudi monarchy are strained again.

Last Friday evening, millions of Turks sat at home in front of their television sets, and before the game was scheduled to start at 8:45 p.m., reporters filled in the time with the usual commentary. The countdown was on in front of the almost empty stands in the al-Awwal Park stadium on the campus of King Saud University in Riyadh. The commentators wondered why there was no sign of the two teams, the champions Galatasaray and the cup winners Fenerbahçe.