2024-04-08 02:14:04
The Turkish Super Cup only lasted four minutes. Then the game was over. The reason for this was a boycott by finalists Fenerbahçe.
Turkish football has once again written a special history. Because the duel in the Supercup between champions Galatasaray and cup winners Fenerbahçe was over after just four minutes. The reason for this was a boycott of Fenerbahçe. The team left the field together after almost two minutes with the score at 0:1.
In the 50th second, Mauro Icardi gave Galatasaray the lead. After celebrating his goal, the teams lined up again for kick-off before Fenerbahçe club officials asked their players to leave the pitch. The referee did not whistle the game again. After a brief discussion with representatives of both clubs, he decided to abandon the game in the fourth minute. Galatasaray’s players then celebrated their victory.
What’s behind the boycott?
Even before the game it was clear that it would be a special final. Fenerbahçe came with the U19s, while Galatasaray wanted to compete with the best players.
The main reason for this was the storming of the pitch and the subsequent mass brawl at the league game between Fenerbahçe and Trabzonspor in mid-March. Dozens of Trabzon home fans stormed the pitch and attacked individual players. Because Fenerbahçe felt the league’s penalties were too lenient, the club announced that it would boycott the Super Cup against Galatasaray. Now the representatives kept their word.
The scheduling of the Supercup also played a crucial role. The game was actually supposed to be played in Saudi Arabia in December 2023. But it did not get to that. According to media reports, this was because local authorities had banned teams from wearing shirts, banners or posters with the image of the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. In a statement from the clubs and the Turkish Football Association (TFF), only “disruptions in the organization” were cited as the reason for the short-term cancellation.
The TFF then rescheduled the game for this Sunday, which upset Fenerbahçe again, as the quarter-final first leg in the Conference League against Olympiacos Piraeus is scheduled for Thursday. A few hours before the start of the Super Cup, Fenerbahçe posted pictures from the team’s training on the X platform and only mentioned the game against Piraeus, not the game against Galatasaray.
Experts believe that the last word in the dispute has not yet been spoken. A resignation of the TFF bosses is considered a likely scenario, as there were already unpleasant scenes before the scandal at the Trabzonspor game in March. In December, MKE Ankaragücü club boss Faruk Koca hit referee Halil Umut Meler to the ground with his fist.