TURKISH FOOTBALL SCANDAL – VIDEO LEAKED: Referees Admit Error in Galatasaray Penalty Decision!
A video allegedly containing conversations between Central Referee Committee educator Hugh Dallas and the referee of the Galatasaray - Antalyaspor match, Abdulkadir Bitigen, has sparked controversy on social media.
EARTHQUAKE IN TURKISH FOOTBALL: Referees admitted giving a penalty in favor of Galatasaray for a non-existent foul!
While a new controversy engulfs Turkish football every day, this time the conversation between referee Abdulkadir Bitigen, Central Referee Committee educator Hugh Dallas, and VAR Education Consultant Pawel Gil during the Galatasaray – Antalyaspor match surfaced on social media.
An account named “lakeoftears1907” on social media platform X announced that it shared footage from the referee meeting that took place on March 1. In the video, Hugh Dallas asked referee Abdulkadir Bitigen about the penalty decision regarding the position involving Galatasaray’s Tete and Antalyaspor’s Sander van de Streek by observing the VAR warning position.
AWAITING STATEMENT FROM TURKISH FOOTBALL FEDERATION AND CENTRAL REFEREE COMMITTEE
Turkish Football Federation and Central Referee Committee’s statement regarding the video, which has been viewed and debated significantly in a short time, is eagerly awaited.
HERE IS THE VIDEO
💥 1 MART HAKEM TOPLANTISI! 🙃
OFSAYTIMSI'DAN DAHA BÜYÜK REZALET! BİTİGEN VE YANKAYA'DAN İTİRAFLAR!
GALATASARAY'A ŞAMPİYONLUK YARIŞINDA YAPILAN HAKEM VE VAR DESTEĞİNİN İSPATI! ŞAMPİYONLUK YARIŞI BU ŞEKİLDE LEKELENİYOR!
BU İSİMLER BİLİNÇLİ OLARAK HALA MAÇLARA ATANIYOR! 🤬 pic.twitter.com/NGHgSUzOJC
— lake of tears (@lakeoftears1907) March 25, 2024
ABDULKADIR BITIGEN: “VAR CALLED ME!”
Abdulkadir Bitigen, who initially let the play continue and then awarded a penalty after VAR intervention, said in the video, “I had a good position here. When the ball suddenly returned from the defense, the number 11 defender blocked my view during the match, so I couldn’t see the point of contact, and I told the VAR referee that I couldn’t see it. Later, the VAR began to review the position and said that they would invite me for review after watching the APB. When I went to watch, in slow motion, it first showed the attacking player touching the ball, then the blue player making contact with his opponent. Then it was shown at normal speed. I asked for a close contact to be sure. After that, I made my decision as a penalty.”
ABDULKADIR BITIGEN: “NOT A PENALTY!”
Answering Hugh Dallas’ question, “Do you still think this was a foul a week later?” Galatasaray-Antalyaspor match referee Abdulkadir Bitigen said, “I think it was a simple contact. I don’t think it was a penalty.”
HUGH DALLAS: “WHY DID YOU CALL THE REFEREE?”
Furthermore, Hugh Dallas also discussed the penalty with VAR referee Özgür Yankaya during the Galatasaray-Antalyaspor match. Hugh Dallas first asked Özgür Yankaya, “Özgür, you had a great season. There were very few interventions, around 3. Can you tell us why you called the referee for such a light contact and put tremendous pressure on the referee?” He then added, “Players’ job is to exaggerate and win penalties. We have emphasized to you several times to focus on your defensive players, not just attacking players. At this point, the player is already creating an expectation by making this contact seem much bigger to win a penalty.”
VAR REFEREE ÖZGÜR YANKAYA: “I’M QUESTIONING MYSELF”
In the video shared on social media, Özgür Yankaya said, “In short, I made a mistake. When the referee said he didn’t see it, I reviewed it and then looked at the expectation; there were players protesting there. I saw the contact at that moment.”
Hugh Dallas: “Players’ job is to exaggerate and win penalties. We have emphasized to you several times to focus on your defensive players, not just attacking players. At this point, the player is already creating an expectation by making this contact seem much bigger to win a penalty.”
Özgür Yankaya: “I don’t mean to say that I acted only according to the expectation. I’m trying to remember the situation at that moment, trying to remember my state of mind. I’m also questioning myself about why I did it. I’m trying to talk about what I remember.”
Özgür Yankaya: “There’s one more thing that just came to my mind. There was something; maybe Hugh can get angry with us, but sometimes we can make mistakes by correlating them with examples in some UEFA clips. Sometimes we can make the right decisions with these examples. There was also a position in my mind that I associated with it… There, it was seen that the attacking player exaggerated himself a lot. It was even our national team‘s match. The player exaggerated himself desperately. There was a similar contact there. I don’t know, maybe they watched it. The position looks quite similar. I’m not just saying I decided based on expectation; these are secondary factors.”
Abdulkadir Bitigen: “I understand very well why Özgür called me to VAR here. Because I clearly said I couldn’t see the contact. There is a contact inside the penalty area contrary to what I said, and there is a penalty expectation on the field. Naturally, Özgür invited me to watch. Secondly, are we going to look at the exaggeration of the attacking player here or the intervention of the defending player? We know that attacking players always exaggerate, but isn’t the intervention at ankle level important here?”
Hugh Dallas: “We don’t give simple penalties, not that simple. Even a slight contact, we don’t give a simple penalty!”
