Fenerbahçe Contemplates Withdrawal from Turkish Super Lig After Violent Attack

Fenerbahçe is considering withdrawing from the Turkish Super Lig after the attack on players in the away match win (2-3) against Trabzonspor on Sunday. Supporters of the home team entered the field after the charged match and sought a confrontation with the Fenerbahçe players.

The club of players such as Dušan Tadić, Sebastian Szymański, Ferdi Kadıoğlu and Jayden Oosterwolde will hold an extraordinary general meeting on April 2. In it, Fenerbahçe evaluates, among other things, the riots in Trabzon and the associated steps to be taken after the incident “including the withdrawal of our first football team from the Super Lig”.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino condemned the incident earlier on Monday, saying violence in the Turkish Super Lig is “unacceptable”. Fenerbahçe is second in the Turkish league, two points behind leaders Galatasaray. The gap to number three Trabzonspor is no less than thirty points.

“Safety in Turkey cannot currently be guaranteed”

Yordi Yamali watched the riots with horror on Sunday evening. It is already the second incident this season and that is “because the safety of the players, staff and arbitration cannot be guaranteed by the Turkish Football Association,” said Yamali, a regular follower of Turkish football. He sees that a very “annoying trend is emerging” in the competition he so loves. “Clubs are only concerned with statements about arbitration, the association and that they are being disadvantaged. That’s starting to boil. And then also call on each other on social media to do strange things. During the match there is a lot of security behind both goals, where the fanatic supporters are, but even if you put three hundred people there. That doesn’t stop thousands of them…”

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Yamali: “It has been proven that security in Turkey cannot currently be guaranteed”

Yordi Yamali about the riots after the match between Trabzonspor and Fenerbahce.

A number of Fenerbahçe players defended themselves and some of them also crossed the line. For example, the Dutchman Jayden Oosterwolde kicked a person who was already on the ground in the head. Yamali says that it is difficult because there is a certain gray area. “The question is: where does ‘self-defense’ end? We have seen a number of players who were attacked, but that Oosterwolde moment, for example, is difficult to capture in ‘self-defense’. Fenerbahçe is a victim and so that is very difficult for the association.” Michy Batshuayi, the scorer of the winning goal, also let go and handed out a karate kick to a field stormer.