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Blimey!Turkish football on hold after club president punches referee
Referee Halil Umut Meler is knocked to the ground by a football club president following a Turkish Super Lig game, leading officials to suspend all matches.
And not to be confused with PASHTUN.
Koca was astonishingly later quoted by the Demiroren News Agency to have said: "This incident developed due to the wrong decisions and provocative behaviour of the referee. My aim was to react verbally to the referee and spit in his face.
"At this time, I slapped the referee in the face. The slap I gave would not cause a fracture.
"After my slap, the referee threw himself on the ground. They immediately removed me from the scene because I have a heart condition."
INCREDIBLE
Worst defence EVAHKoca was astonishingly later quoted by the Demiroren News Agency to have said: "This incident developed due to the wrong decisions and provocative behaviour of the referee. My aim was to react verbally to the referee and spit in his face.
"At this time, I slapped the referee in the face. The slap I gave would not cause a fracture.
"After my slap, the referee threw himself on the ground. They immediately removed me from the scene because I have a heart condition."
INCREDIBLE
It sounds more plausible than the defences for not providing Whatsapp messages to the Covid enquiry.Koca was astonishingly later quoted by the Demiroren News Agency to have said: "This incident developed due to the wrong decisions and provocative behaviour of the referee. My aim was to react verbally to the referee and spit in his face.
"At this time, I slapped the referee in the face. The slap I gave would not cause a fracture.
"After my slap, the referee threw himself on the ground. They immediately removed me from the scene because I have a heart condition."
INCREDIBLE
www.ekathimerini.com
Football in that part of the Mediteranean is having issues - The Greek top league has been asked to play all games behind closed doors by the government due to crowd trouble.
Greece calls for 2-month spectator ban at soccer matches | eKathimerini.com
The Greek government has asked the Super League to hold championship matches without spectators for two months because of the risk of trouble.
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What the report doesn't say though (it only refers to "sports fans") is that the trouble was caused by fans at a basketball game! While it is true that the two basketball teams involved have the same names as, and are owned by, two major Greek football clubs, it does seem rather harsh to punish all football fans for it.Football in that part of the Mediteranean is having issues - The Greek top league has been asked to play all games behind closed doors by the government due to crowd trouble.
Greece calls for 2-month spectator ban at soccer matches | eKathimerini.com
The Greek government has asked the Super League to hold championship matches without spectators for two months because of the risk of trouble.
Again, suspending all the leagues in Turkey is a knee-jerk reaction. It should be just MKE Ankaragucu who deserve to be suspended.Turkish football on hold after club president punches referee
Referee Halil Umut Meler is knocked to the ground by a football club president following a Turkish Super Lig game, leading officials to suspend all matches.
If this is an isolated incident, then yes completely agree, and completely agree the club should be punished massively for what happened. I don't follow Turkish football in any way, but if this was the latest in a long line of incidents involving multiple clubs then you could make an argument for a broader punishment. Thatcher was considering similar 'broad-stroke' measures in the 80s as many would remember, including getting all football supporters on a registration card scheme.
