Fenerbahce exploded with anger and left the stadium after just 1 minute of the Turkiye Super Cup
Fenerbahce players left the ground just one minute after kick-off. Galatasaray won the Super Cup after a boycott of the game, but controversy grew.
Fenerbahce left the stadium immediately after giving up the first goal in the first minute of the first half in the final of the 2023-24 Türkiye Super Cup against Galatasaray held in Türkiye Shanliurfa on the 8th (Korean time).
Even though it was the Super Cup final, Fenerbahce had a lineup of players under the age of 19 that day, and after conceding a goal, they lined up at the halfway line and left the ground at the command’s request.
In the end, the referee declared Galatasaray the winner.
In a statement, the Fenerbahce club emphasized, “We left the stadium for the truth, not for victory,” and added, “We will continue to stand tall as the world’s largest sports club with 30 million fans around the world.”
The reason Fenerbahce gave up the game was because of a series of recent events.
According to local media, Fenerbahce is preparing for the first leg of the 2023-24 UEFA Europa Conference League quarterfinals against Olympiacos (Greece) on the 12th. Fenerbahce requested the Türkije Football Federation to postpone the Super Cup ahead of the important game, but the request was rejected. Fenerbahce president Yildirim Ali Kok strongly criticized the unreasonable measures against the team that have been taking place over the past several years through the club. President Fenerbahce said, “Now Türkiye football must be reset.” In addition, it was also decisive that two Fenerbahce players were recently suspended for two games by the Turkiye Football Federation after the match against Trarzonspor last week. After the final whistle sounded, Trabzonspor fans rushed to the ground, and Irrfan Khan Erivayat and Jayden Oostervolde, who argued with them, were banned from playing for two games. Trabzonspor was suspended for six games without spectators. Fenerbahce claims that the players’ disciplinary action is unreasonable. Meanwhile, the Turkiye Super Cup was originally scheduled to be held in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, in December last year. Players from both teams were warming up in preparation for kickoff, but the Turkiye Football Federation suddenly canceled the game. At the time, the game was suddenly postponed because Saudi Arabia did not allow Türkiye players to wear warm-up shirts with an image of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Türkiye. Due to the continued unreasonable measures, the Fenerbahce team’s dissatisfaction exploded as even this Super Cup was held in Sanliurfa, 1,000km away from the capital Istanbul. Fenerbahce, which had a lineup of under-19 players, gave up the game just one minute after kick-off, showing strong dissatisfaction with the federation’s actions.