These are surreal and dramatic images. This Monday evening, at the end of the meeting between Ankaragücü and Rizespor, two clubs from the D1 championship in Turkey, the referee of the match, Halil Umut Meler was violently attacked while he was still on the pitch. And it was the president of the club hosting the match, Faruk Koca, who first hit the referee with a violent punch in the face.
The Turkish referee then collapsed to the ground before being hit several times by people on the pitch a few minutes after the end of the match. The official was kicked for several seconds. Relieved by security, the referee, who regularly directs European cup matches, and who had a large cockade under his left eye, was then able to return to the locker room under high protection.
A tense match until the end
The equalizer conceded by Ankaragücü in the 97th minute of play, on a goal from Adolfo Gaich, apparently was the trigger for the club president’s madness. Previously, the Ankara club was denied a goal in the 10th minute of play for handball and received a red card in the 50th.
Shortly after the attack, the country’s sports minister, Osman Askin Bak, denounced a “assault” that “we no longer want to see on our land“. After 15 days of Süper Lig, the Rizespor club is 8th with 22 points. Ankaragücü is in 11th place, with 18 points, and could face heavy sanctions after these pitiful events. This serious incident caused the suspension of the championship until further notice.