Turkish Super Cup: Fenerbahçe sends its U19 team and leaves the pitch after less than a minute of play against Galatasaray
Surreal scenes in the Turkish Super Cup. In conflict with the Turkish Federation, Fenerbahçe sent its U19 team to compete in the Turkish Super Cup final against Galatasaray on Sunday April 7. The “Fener” then decided to leave the field after 50 seconds of play and the opening score of Mauro Icardi. Galatasaray therefore won its 17th Turkish Super Cup on the green carpet, after a 1-0 victory sealed in the first minute of play.
The opposing players were not really surprised by the turn of events, since Fenerbahçe vice-president Erol Bilecik announced on Sunday morning that “the meeting would not come to an end”. After conceding this first goal, the young U19s went directly to the locker room, on the orders of their coach, and were applauded ironically by the Galatasaray players, who then organized an opposition against their usual substitutes.
Fenerbahçe had decided not to play in this Turkish Super Cup in order to denounce “injustices towards him” from the Turkish federation. The club denounces in particular the excessively light sanctions inflicted on the Trabzonspor club after an invasion of the pitch where opposing supporters physically attacked Fenerbahçe players. The players who responded to the blows were also sanctioned, provoking the anger of the Istanbul leaders.
Ahead of this Super Cup, Fenerbahçe had requested the postponement of the match due to its quarter-final of the Europa Conference League which it must play on Thursday against Olympiakos. The club also demanded that a foreign referee officiate the match, arguing that Turkish referees had unfavorably treated them.
The Turkish Super Cup was initially scheduled for December 29 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but the meeting was postponed at the last minute after Saudi organizers refused to allow players to wear jerseys with political slogans. The two teams wanted to warm up with jerseys bearing the image of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, to celebrate the centenary of the Turkish Republic.
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