Skilled soccer throughout Turkey has been suspended after the president of prime division membership MKE Ankaragucu punched a referee on Monday night time. Halil Umut Meler was attacked on the ultimate whistle of the 1-1 attract Ankara, a match the place a participant was despatched off on either side earlier than Rizespor scored an equalizer within the seventh minute of damage time.
Photographs present president Faruk Koca hitting Meler within the face, sparking a mass brawl of gamers and officers. The referee was additionally kicked no less than as soon as whereas down on the ground. Meler informed police that his attacker had threatened to kill him, according to Reuters.
“Faruk Koca punched me beneath my left eye; I fell to the bottom. Whereas I used to be on the bottom, different folks kicked me within the face and different components of my physique many occasions,” Meler mentioned. “Koca mentioned to me and my colleagues, ‘I’ll end you’. Addressing me, he mentioned, ‘I’ll kill you’.”
Koca, who has been remanded into custody, is reported to have informed an Ankara courtroom: “This incident developed as a result of mistaken selections and provocative conduct of the referee. My intention was to react verbally to the referee and spit in his face.” Two different people have additionally been remanded, Turkey’s justice minister Yılmaz Tunc has mentioned.
In response to the “shameful” incident, the Turkish Soccer Federation (TFF) mentioned it’s suspending matches in all leagues indefinitely. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the assault, including that sports activities are about “peace and brotherhood”. Koca has twice been elected as a member of the Turkish parliament, representing Erodgan’s ruling AK Get together. FIFA president Gianni Infantino issued an announcement on Tuesday morning, saying that Koca’s actions had been “completely unacceptable and don’t have any place in our sport or society”, warning that “with out match officers there is no such thing as a soccer”.
The TFF assertion positioned the blame for the incident not solely on the MKE Ankaragucu but in addition a wider tradition in direction of match officers. “The irresponsible statements of membership presidents, managers, coaches and TV commentators concentrating on referees have paved the way in which for this vile assault right this moment,” mentioned the governing physique. “In coordination with our state, all of the felony proceedings they deserve have begun to be carried out towards these accountable and instigators of this inhumane assault.
“The accountable membership, its president, its managers and all criminals who attacked Meler might be punished in essentially the most extreme method. By the choice of the TFF Board of Administrators, matches in all leagues have been postponed indefinitely.”
Meler, 37, is a member of UEFA’s elite listing of referees, officiating each within the Champions League and final season’s Europa Convention League semifinal first leg between West Ham and AZ Alkmaar.
Writing on X, MKE Ankaragucu mentioned: “As MKE Ankaragucu Sports activities Membership, we’re saddened by the incident that passed off this night. We apologise to the Turkish soccer public and your entire sports activities neighborhood for the unhappy incident that occurred after the Çaykur Rizespor match at Eryaman Stadium.”
