A Turkish court ordered the arrest on Tuesday of Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca for punching a referee in the face at the end of a Super Lig football match, the justice minister said after the outbreak of violence in the European top-tier league.
The court also remanded in custody two other suspects over the incident at Ankaragucu’s home match against Rizespor on Monday evening, at which referee Halil Umut Meler was also later kicked while lying on the pitch.
The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) said it had suspended all leagues after
the “shameful” incident in Ankara.
Justice minister Yilmaz Tunc said Koca and two others were formally arrested for “injuring a public official” after prosecutors took statements from them.
“The investigation is continuing meticulously,” he said on X, adding judicial controls were imposed on three other suspects.
Ankaragucu had taken the lead through Olimpiu Morutan in the 14th minute but were reduced to 10 men five minutes into the second half when Ali Sowe was shown a red card. Rizespor’s Emirhan Topcu followed him down the tunnel when he was dismissed five minutes into time added on.
It looked like Ankaragucu were going to hang on to all three points until Adolfo Gaich levelled in the dying seconds for Rizespor, whose starting XI included former England, Liverpool and Newcastle United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey.
Koca entered the field and hit Meler when the final whistle blew at Eryaman Stadium, footage from state broadcaster TRT showed.
The referee was lying in a hospital bed with a swollen face and a neck brace, footage provided by the ministry showed.
“The bleeding in Meler’s left eye started to decrease” and there will be no permanent damage, said Mehmet Yorubulut, chief doctor of Acibadem hospital. “The fracture there will gradually heal. There is no brain damage,” he said, adding he will likely be discharged on Wednesday.
The club president Koca was twice elected to Turkey’s parliament as part of President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party.
Pitch invasion
While Erdogan said on X that violence has no place in sport, Koca was quoted as blaming the referee in part for his actions.
“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,” Koca told
the court.
“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,” Koca was quoted as saying.
After the match, footage showed Ankaragucu fans invaded the pitch and Meler was also kicked when he fell. He eventually made it to the dressing room with the help of the police.
The federation said Ankaragucu, its chairman, club officials and all those guilty of attacking the referee will be “punished in the strongest terms possible”.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino said the events that took place after the match were “totally unacceptable and have no place in our sport or society”.
A Fifa referee since 2017, Meler took charge of Lazio’s Champions League group game with Celtic on November 28.
Referees in Turkey are often criticised by club managers and presidents for their decisions but are rarely the target of violent attacks.
Ankaragucu are 11th in the standings on 18 points, three places below Rizespor on
22 points.
Inputs from Reuters, The Daily Telegraph in London
