Fenerbahçe Reacts to Referee Decisions and Challenging Pitch Conditions!

After Fenerbahçe‘s 3-1 win against Çaykur Rizespor, the yellow-navy team’s general secretary, Burak Kızılhan, made statements. Kızılhan made a reference to Galatasaray, their rival in the championship race, regarding the pitch.

“We didn’t use the pitch as a bargaining chip like other teams.”

In his statement, Burak Kızılhan said, “We secured a very important 3 points. It didn’t stop raining for 90 minutes, and the fans didn’t stop cheering. Our team fought seriously. I want to say something about the pitch conditions. It is crystal clear how bad the pitches in Turkey are. It has been talked about a lot recently. We knew that Rizespor’s pitch was very bad. The rain poured, making the pitch even heavier. We never used this as a bargaining chip like other teams, never brought it up; we fought like men and got the 3 points. There are 12-13 weeks left now. Every week will be a final. We will closely follow the decisions of the Turkish Football Federation, especially regarding the stadiums. There can’t be worse pitches than this. Every team will play just as we did. It’s that simple. We all watched it together tonight.”

“Turkish football needs to get rid of Arda Kardeşler and similar referees.”

Criticizing the referee as well, Kızılhan said, “Most of the decisions given by the referee were in favor of the opposing team. The cards given and not given, red cards, foul positions, all entirely in favor of the opposing team. There was a clear stamp on Tadic’s shoulder just before the goal. No reaction. The move on Szymanski deserved a red card. It’s unacceptable. It’s clear what Arda Brothers have done against Fenerbahçe. It’s absolutely evident that Turkish football needs to get rid of Arda Kardeşler and similar referees.”