Last Minute: MHK and referee revision statement from Fenerbahçe President Ali Koç

Let’s first look at the general situation in Turkish football, then let’s talk about Fenerbahce’s thoughts. football, millions of fans, clubs, investing sponsors, broadcasting company, is one of the largest sectors that includes the press. Football is a phenomenon that enters every household in the country. Today, there is turmoil, chaos, favoritism, injustice, uncertainty, distrust, intense gossip, intense lobbying in Turkish football. Every way to win is considered permissible. The brand value and the level of people it contains are decreasing day by day. We brought Turkish football to a position where mediocrity becomes the norm, losing blood day by day. We are in a system that is constantly rewinding and getting worse every year. It is a value that, if it is managed fairly, with a little trust, with merit, far from manliness, away from lobbies, is not harmful to the society, but beneficial, and can regain the strength to stand up. Football is currently in a position to divide society, far from uniting it.

“FENERBAHÇE IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST VICTIMS OF THIS SYSTEM FOR YEARS”

Fenerbahçe has been one of the biggest victims of this system for years. Fenerbahçe is one of the institutions that have been against this system for years. We have never given up on this stance. Even if it sounds romantic, sooner or later those who think like us will prevail. It is hopeful for the future that most of the stakeholders of Turkish football come to the same point as us and question the system. However, I say emphatically that as long as this system continues, we have no alternative but to go upside down. We will never be able to get out of the problems by facing this situation we are in.

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Fenerbahçe has systematically been the target of this corrupt system for years. Sometimes in the last game, sometimes in the most critical corner of the season, he was hit. The most recent example is last season. As everyone admits, our 12-15 points were usurped due to the referee’s disasters. It’s obvious how close the league is. This is not for us. These point losses are not from gray positions. I’m talking about decisions made in clear positions. A well-known referee, who made a program on a national channel at that time, said many times: “There is an attitude towards Fenerbahçe, someone from the referee community will not make Fenerbahçe a champion. I swear.” This may be something he has made up in his own mind, or it may be an idea he has gained from conversations with real witnesses. Let’s take an action regarding the investigation from MHK regarding these allegations, not even a simple explanation has come.

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“FENERBAHÇE HATE HAS INSTALLED TFF’S VEINS SUCH…”

TFF, which should be responsible, fair and equidistant from every club, should have taken the relevant steps. This was also necessary to protect the conscience and dignity of the judges under suspicion. You can understand TFF’s view of Fenerbahçe from these. Fenerbahce hatred has penetrated the veins of TFF to such an extent that when we made a statement, they had the audacity to reply and threaten. They can ignore other clubs’ statements ‘going through the federation’ and respond to us in this way. Finally, after our statement, they called the prosecutors to duty. Let me go one step further, if you have the heart, call the prosecutors to investigate Fenerbahçe. On what basis did you call the prosecutors to duty? In the past, they made a statement that ‘We have forwarded it to the Prosecutor’s Office’ for some important issues. Before you bring it to the court, you make an examination within yourself and then you go to the court. They throw it to the court and they come out of it.

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They responded to our statement within 10 hours after we took office. TFF puts our club in a difficult situation in terms of using the spending limits. Sometimes they punish us… They showed their attitude towards us at every opportunity. We will fight with all our might to save Turkish football from this mentality.

“IS THERE ANY INTENTION IN THE APPOINTMENT AT MIDNIGHT?”

Let’s talk about the referee of our Trabzonspor match, Zorbay Küçük. Referee appointment was made during the week. 6 matches were announced in one hour, and the other matches were announced close to midnight. Challenges between the big 4 are extremely critical, high-difficulty matches, regardless of the scoreboard. The date of the Fenerbahçe – Trabzonspor match was announced on 16 February. Zorbay Küçük was also announced at 23:55. On the same night, Zorbay Küçük managed the Alanyaspor – Gaziantep FK Turkey Cup match. The match went on, at 23:20 TFF gave the notification of the match to Zorbay Küçük. If this appointment had been made with an understanding that remained true to tradition, these would not have happened. It is obvious that there is an intervention, but it is an extremely amateur approach. This job is so against the stereotypes that we had to explain. Is there any intent in the appointment of Zorbay Küçük at midnight? On social media, ‘A TFF official contacted me, asked Zorb ay Küçük, and I said, ‘Let him rule justly’. There has been no such conversation. This appointment was made with a last-minute change in our opinion. Most likely, the referee of this match was not Zorbay Küçük. Appointed at the last minute.

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“EVERYONE KNOWS THAT THIS REFEREE HAS A NERVE PROBLEM”

The referee assigned to such a match does not win the previous week or receives a match with a low difficulty level. This practice is applied in order to make the necessary preparations for the big match physically and mentally. For Zorbay Küçük, it is even more important to implement this because everyone knows that this referee has a nervous problem. It is the referee who is injured the most. He has been away from the field for a long time. We remember the situations where he got into polemics with the football players in some of the matches he directed. According to our research, he sleeps in Alanya that night, goes to Adana by connecting from Istanbul, and then returns to Istanbul. He has 72 hours to rest. Let’s put ourselves in the place of the referee and think; “I guess I wasn’t the referee of this match, they changed their mind at the last moment and gave it to me.”

For the first time, he was assigned to a match played between 4 big players. He also worked with his assistants in a match for the first time. Worse if it’s a careless choice. I wish the observer of the Alanya – Gaziantep match had not written the referee’s report. If the assignment is made 20 minutes after the match ends, then the report is meaningless.

You can see how amateurish and blind-eyed Turkish football is from the topics I have explained. Turkish football has never experienced what happened in the last period. The psychology of the referees today carries a risk for the healthy completion of the league. Everyone knows how the game went. We were kicked out of the game in the early minute with a strange red card. We played 82 minutes with 10 people. Good luck to the children, they struggled at the level they wanted to see our stands. Sure, ‘Where have you been all this time?’ We want to ask involuntarily.

RED CARD IN TRABZONSPOR MATCH

Mete Kalkavan calls VAR in a red card position. The same Mete Kalkavan did not give a red card to the same position in the previous month. You’ve already seen the referee’s face when he goes to VAR. This is an example of how unfairly Fenerbahce is in a race against its rivals.

The observer of this match is Denizli Sports Provincial Director Ahmet İbanoğlu. He is one of the names who were dismissed in the decision on 8 March. The head of the MHK said that this decision had been taken before. Didn’t you know before the match? This week, Zorbay Küçük was given a Başakşahir – Antalyaspor match, and the ways were parted with the observer who gave low marks to Zorbay Küçük. İrfan Can, who received a red card, was given a 1 match penalty. A direct red card starts from 2 matches. It means it was a mistake. But Zorbay Küçük is playing a game this week.

We have come to a place where the chaos is getting worse and where the winner and the loser don’t matter. The quality of the league, which will be played in this way, has also fallen to the ground. We are living in a season in which MHK’s referee elections, the matches whose results are known, and all kinds of disgrace are revealed. Strange relations emerged with the dismissal of the referees. We are in an order in which allegiance is demanded instead of merit, referees are assigned with usefulness instead of performance, mediocrity is taken for granted, and one city of the country is considered bigger than the whole country. Let’s see how this order will continue.

FIRAT AYDINUS WORDS

As Fenerbahçe, we immediately reacted to the decision of the TFF and MHK regarding the referees. The reason for our reaction is the time of the decision. Every club in Turkey complains about the referees. We agree on the resolution of this gangrene as soon as possible, but we do not agree on the method. Our biggest concern right now is that this referee engineering is done for reasons that will not be acceptable in the future. Everything has a way of doing it, there is a time to do it. Let’s not make a simple inference from this statement that ‘Fenerbahce is satisfied with the referees’. Fenerbahce has been presenting its ideas about refereeing solutions for a long time. We cannot help but question the intention of this move, even if it takes months. We do not find it right that it is done by people who do not have enough qualifications to find a permanent solution to referee problems that have become gangrenous. We do not believe that the people who will make this change have the capacity. As the MHK President said, we do not believe that it is a work that lasts for months. Mr. President said, ‘I did this, I am responsible’. I strongly disagree. An online meeting is held with the referees, let’s say a seminar. He sees Fırat Aydınus on the screen. He says, ‘Oh, you have grown a beard’. Fırat Aydınus says, ‘You can research and know these, I rest my face and body’. President of MHK ‘Why are you resting?’ says. Aydınus says, ‘I was going to ask you why’. The head of MHK says he doesn’t know why. Fırat Aydınus says, ‘Then why should anyone go and ask together’. You know that Fırat Aydınus was impaled after the Rizespor match.

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