This decision comes after the violent attack on a referee at the end of a match in Ankara. The President of the Ankaragücü club is in question.
The violent attack on a football referee at the end of a match on Monday in Ankara led the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) to suspend the first division championship until further notice.
Among the attackers is the president of the Ankaragücü first division club, Faruk Koca. Three of these attackers, including Mr. Koca, were taken into custody, the Turkish Minister of Justice announced on Tuesday.
According to Turkish media, Mr. Koca was among the potential AKP candidates for mayor of Ankara for the municipal elections in March 2024.
The referee, Halil Umut Meler, announced that he was filing a complaint. “Faruk Koca punched me under the left eye and I fell. While I was on the ground, all the people kicked me in the face and other parts of the body… Faruk Koca shouted ‘I will kill you!’“, he told the official Anadolu agency.
The Ankaragücü club, which was denied a goal during the match, presented its “apologies to the supporters and the entire sporting community for this sad incident“.
The Turkish Football Federation, for its part, decided “postponement indefinitely” of all championship matches, in reaction to this aggression which awakens the specter of violence in Turkish football.
The Turkish Referees Association called on its members to exercise their right of withdrawal, calling on Turkish football officials and the judiciary to take “the necessary measures“.
