The height of the Turkish football crisis. The famous Fenerbahce are seriously considering: Will we leave the league?

Over twenty-five thousand people in the stands of the Sükrü Saracoglu Stadium in the bustling city district of Kadikoy first listened to the urgent speeches of the club leaders during the extraordinary general meeting. And then they raised their hands on individual voting points.

The gigantic gathering caught the attention of the world’s media.

One of the most famous brands of Turkish sports is convinced that it is being harmed (and not only) on football pitches. The famous Fenerbahce will not leave the top competition for the time being, but… “At the end of the current season, we will come back to the same proposal and discuss it,” confirmed the well-known club president Ali Koc.

There is much more that plagues the elite Turkish Süper Lig and lowers its prestige.

Condemnations and dismay repeatedly rain down from the highest places of football diplomacy. FIFA President Gianni Infantino often comments on the events that are happening in Turkey, and he was recently worried about the safety of the players themselves.

After Trabzonspor’s match with Fenerbahce, the home fans invaded the lawn, where they also attacked the visiting footballers. Some of them defended themselves with fists or kicks, for which goalkeeper Irfan Can Egribayat and defender Jayden Quinn Oosterwolde received a one-match ban and a fine from the disciplinary committee.

Due to the violence, thirteen fans also ended up in custody, even so the management of Trabzonspor said: “Nothing serious happened, let our people go!”

And other moments that frame the current season in Turkish football cannot be overlooked either.

The brutal attack of the president of the Ankaragücü club on the referee right on the field, the resignation of the Istanbulspor players in protest against the management of the match, the postponement of the final of the Turkish Super Cup between the Galatasaray and Fenerbahce teams because the authorities at the venue of the match, which was supposed to be Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, did not allow them to put on T-shirts during the warm-up with the effigy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkish state.

According to reports from local media, most clubs, including Fenerbahce, feel grievances on the pitch and behind the scenes. They complain about judges and the verdicts of important commissions.

“We do not intend to continue to tolerate similar behavior of important authorities,” proclaimed the just-mentioned head of Istanbul Fenerbahce, before calling an extraordinary general meeting on Tuesday, April 2.

Her conclusions are as follows.

“We will not withdraw from the league yet, as we are convinced that we would have to deal with the same injustice in lower competitions,” Reuters quoted president Ali Koc as saying.

Nevertheless, the members of Fenerbahce agreed that their football team will not participate in Turkish Cup matches or field teenagers in the next two years. The same could also apply to the still unplayed Supercup final, whose replacement date (Sunday, April 7) is not delayed by the blue-and-yellow due to participation in the quarterfinals of the Conference League. They also want an “independent foreign referee” in addition to another match date.

“Over the past twenty years, we have suffered many wrongs, we have shown immense patience when injustices were done to us, which would not be possible in any other country in the world. Not reacting was against common sense,” he explained to fans and members of the Koc club on Tuesday.

According to the media, he pointed, for example, to the events of 2006, when Fenerbahce under strange circumstances lost the league title in the last match of the season against Denizlispor. He also returned to the corruption scandal of 2011, after which the court sent former Fenerbahce boss Aziz Yildirim behind bars for six years, after which he was found innocent in 2020. And he did not forget the armed attack on the team bus from 2015, in which the driver was seriously injured and all the players, including the then Czech representative Michal Kadlec, were endangered.

That is why Fenerbahce does not direct its anger only at the Turkish Football Association, but directly at the government, which, according to Koca, treats his club unfairly.

What will be next?

Turkish football is probably in for a rather explosive end to the league, in which Fenerbahce is still fighting for the title with city rivals Galatasaray (currently five points behind them and with a game to spare).

He remains in the game in Europe as well, where he will face Olympiakos in the semi-finals of the Conference League, which could be another potentially very explosive duel.

As if the passion surrounding Fenerbahce wasn’t enough. This story will surely have a sequel.