Fenerbahçe President Ali Koç’s referee remarks before the Super Cup match!
Fenerbahçe Club President Ali Koç expressed their desire to win the Turkish Super Cup to be played in Saudi Arabia tomorrow. Ali Koç said, "In our opinion, the referee appointed here is not a correct appointment."
Speaking to FB TV before the Super Cup match to be played in the capital Riyadh, President Ali Koç emphasized that not only the first team but also the under-19 team went to Saudi Arabia.
Koç, expressing that they are with the team as the administration, said, “Hopefully, with the permission of Allah, we want to be successful, win the cup, and bring it. Like any team playing in the final, we are eager, ambitious, and hopeful. We believe it will be good.”
Referring to the referee issue before the match, Koç emphasized that regardless of the result in the cup, they will make statements about both the cup process and what has been happening in Turkish football in the last two weeks. He continued:
“Regardless of the result in the cup, both the cup process and what has been happening in Turkish football in the last two weeks, the stance of the Turkish Football Federation, zigzagging on the issue of referees, will become clearer in the next two weeks. However, we have statements to make about all these. We are going as representatives of Turkish football. A five-year project is being considered. As Fenerbahçe Sports Club, we feel the need to explain our stance on this project and the whole process. As I mentioned, regardless of the result in the cup, we have things to say. Because we are not satisfied with the current situation and process.”
“The performance of the referee team is as important as ours”
Reminding that after the derby match played in the league, the two teams will play in the Super Cup final abroad after 5 days, Koç, stating that the two big teams represent Turkish football, said:
“At the same time, if we think about the brand value and reputation of Turkish football, the performance of the referee team is very, very important as much as our performance. In recent times, in Turkish football, whether it is the Super League or the lower leagues, except for a few teams, you know those teams, everyone is uncomfortable with referee performances, appointments, matches given and not given after low performance, performance notes given and not given. But if everyone is uncomfortable with this issue, it means there is a big problem. However, after the unfortunate events in the match in Ankara two weeks ago, as if there were no such problems, a stance has been taken in Turkish football as if there were no referee problem. Almost everyone except a few teams in the Clubs Association is uncomfortable with this issue. We will see if there will be consistency between what our Federation tells us and what they will do from now on.”
Speaking about the referee team assigned to the match, Ali Koç said, “In our opinion, the referee assigned here is not a correct appointment. But according to another opinion, it is said that there is no other referee to appoint given the current squad and the point we have reached. In our opinion, the correct appointment for this match was to use a foreign referee; both on the field and in VAR. The Federation was very close to this, but after the incident I mentioned happened, everything suddenly changed 180 degrees. Therefore, the performance of the referee, VAR, and the performance of the teams are very important. Why do we say the wrong referee? The past experiences of the referee, what is alleged about him are known to everyone. Hopefully, these are unnecessary claims, and we are unnecessarily worried, and we play a derby where the referee is not talked about.”
“We finished a derby with shameful numbers”
Ali Koç, who stated that the teams and the referee team directly affect the quality of the game, said, “We finished a derby with shameful numbers. Almost half of the playing time was spent with the ball. There were 45 fouls, you all know, but more importantly, the game stopped more than 130 times. Free kicks, throw-ins, corner kicks… This is not going to work.”
Ali Koç, who also recalled that last year, coach Jorge Jesus, and this year, coach İsmail Kartal, drew attention to referee performances due to the constant stopping of the game, said:
“Fouls that we have never seen abroad are called in our country. Goalkeepers spend an incredible amount of time, contribute to the stoppage of the game, and referees allow it. Both the fouls that should not be called and the tolerance shown to goalkeepers and players who want to spend time… Almost in an atmosphere where the wind changes, football is played with players falling. Hopefully, we will not see these in the Super Cup final, the flow of the game will be closer to European standards, and the time the ball stays in play will be according to European standards. There will be a different match energy and flow than a league match, but I felt the need to draw attention to these. Because it’s not going well like this. Hopefully, in the second half of our season, the problems I mentioned, touched on, will be minimized, and it will be a second half where football is talked about rather than the referee. For now, let’s say this much. Hopefully, we will arrive in Saudi Arabia safely. Our team will have training in the evening. We will eagerly await the match time tomorrow.”