Fenerbahçe players walk out of Super Cup final after a minute of play as club calls for ‘reset of Turkish football’
By Sammy Mncwabe and Tanem Zaman, CNN
(CNN) — Turkish soccer club Fenerbahçe called for a “reset of Turkish football” before staging a walkout one minute into the Super Cup final against Galatasaray on Sunday, conceding the trophy.
Fenerbahçe fielded an Under-19 team and withdrew from the match after Galatasaray’s Argentine striker Mauro Icardi had scored.
In a lengthy statement issued by Fenerbahçe president Ali Koç before the Super Cup match, the Istanbul-based club detailed alleged “injustices over 20 years” as the reason behind its “rebellion.”
“We have now entered a period in which we must rebel against these injustices, inequalities, double standards, those who sow the seeds of unfair competition in plain sight, and the theft of our labor,” said Koç.
“It is time for a ‘reset’ for Turkish football. We are in a period when the swamp must be drained and Turkish football must rebuild itself.”
In a video after the match, Galatasaray’s deputy chairman Erden Timur said that he “wish(ed) the match could have been played normally.”
He added: “The main issue here is that this tension needs to end as soon as possible. Various incidents are happening right now. All of us are putting forward that there have been injustices on our sides. And where these injustices are taking place is on the field.
“Transparency is key in order for each and every segment of society to be informed about whether these injustices occurred or not.”
CNN has reached out to the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) for comment.
According to state news agency TRT, a decision about the abandoned Super Cup match will be made by the TFF. Proceeds for the match were meant to be donated to victims of last year’s earthquake in southern Turkey.
Turkish football has been engulfed in chaos recently with several high-profile incidents.
On Wednesday, the TFF announced a six-game spectator ban at Trabzonspor home matches and fines of approximately $13,977 (448,000 Turkish Lira) after fans stormed the pitch and attacked Fenerbahçe players celebrating their 3-2 win in a Süper Lig match in March.
As a result of the violence in the Trabzonspor game, Fenerbahçe held a meeting on April 2 in which the club considered leaving the top-flight league but later postponed this decision to July.
In December, Faruk Koca, the president of top-flight Turkish soccer club Ankaragücü, resigned a day after he punched a FIFA-licensed referee in the face. There have also been reports of several protests of referee-related decisions in recent months.
Trabzonspor, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe have previously called for the resignation of TFF president Mehmet Büyükekşi and the current board.
The TFF has scheduled a general election for an “elective general assembly” on July 18 but it is unclear if this is for the presidential role or for the entire leadership of the federation, according to TRT.
The-CNN-Wire
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