Fenerbahçe Blasts Galatasaray’s Provocative Remarks After Göztepe Match
Fenerbahçe's General Secretary, Burak Kızılhan, made statements on the club's television channel regarding the incidents that occurred during the Göztepe match. Kızılhan responded to the statement made by Galatasaray concerning these events.
Kızılhan’s statements are as follows:
“WHERE HAS IT EVER BEEN SEEN THAT A TEAM’S JERSEY IS BURNED?”
“This broadcast is very important because serious manipulations have begun. As someone who witnessed the events firsthand, I want to explain what happened. Everything started very well. It was a pleasant away game. We made our trip to Izmir fully prepared. Unfortunately, what happened on the day of the match is unbelievable. The images we saw shocked us. Where has it ever been seen that a team’s jersey is burned? Who are these people? It’s a shame! Isn’t there anyone around?
A supporter of ours was stripped of their jersey in the square. What is this, if not robbery? What are the security forces doing there? What bothered us the most were the incidents that occurred before the match.
“THIS IS THE BIGGEST PROVOCATION”
I am very curious about what will be done to those who burned the jersey and those who stripped it off. If they did something, I apologize. This is the biggest provocation.
All of our supporters undergo identity checks, pass checks, and body searches. These are supporters. You searched them once; why search them again in front of the stadium? When we entered the stadium, unfortunately, our supporters were still outside.
“EXCESSIVE FORCE WAS USED ON OUR SUPPORTERS WITH PEPPER SPRAY”
The incidents that occurred to our supporters here shocked us. There are unbelievable images. Excessive force was used on our supporters with pepper spray.
“WHY DO THESE PROBLEMS OCCUR IN IZMIR?”
What does pepper spray mean, what’s happening? What’s the reason for this? If there are problems at the entrances, you should have let the supporters in earlier. We travel all over Turkey for away games. Why do these problems occur in Izmir?
“SEATS IN THE VIP TRIBUNE WERE BROKEN”
One of the surprising things in this stadium was that we couldn’t watch the match because the seats in the VIP tribune were broken from the 5th minute onwards. I don’t know if maintenance was done, but hopefully, they will fix it for the next match, and other teams won’t experience this.
We finished the first half amid serious harassment and bad language, both from the private suites and from the supporters. Even our president spoke with the police chief responsible for that area and conveyed the issue. He said, ‘We need to increase the number in the second half, but unfortunately, we didn’t bring enough police forces here.’ Our phones didn’t stop ringing; the supporters still hadn’t entered.
“I DIDN’T SEE ANY GÖZTEPE OFFICIALS”
Before the match, during the first half, and after the match, I personally did not see any Göztepe officials. TFF officials were there; thanks to them, they were always with us. A person who claimed to be an official caused the biggest provocation while our president was on the field. After we had our meeting there, he confronted us. Apart from that, I didn’t see any Göztepe officials.
“OUR EXECUTIVE WAS PEPPER SPRAYED YESTERDAY”
Serious manipulations have begun. When we heard that 200-250 of our supporters still couldn’t enter the stadium, we set off from the VIP to the away tribune to be with them. We were leading 2-0. Why would we provoke? What should we have done, flown out of there? This was the only way we could have gone. If we had another purpose, we would have gone with 10 people. Why didn’t only those with accreditation go? Our other executives went up to assist the supporters who were having problems at the upper section. Our executive, Alper Alpoğlu, was pepper sprayed yesterday. His eyes were closed for 15-20 minutes. Dozens of people were pepper sprayed yesterday. Why can’t ticket-holding supporters enter the match? Because you’re late. Can something like this happen?
“GALATASARAY SHOULD DEAL WITH THEIR OWN ISSUES; THEY HAVE MANY PROBLEMS”
I read the statement made by the well-known community, I can’t even comment on it. When they got the opportunity, they brought the issue back to the agenda. It’s impossible for the president not to see what they claimed while entering their stadium as if it were a raid. There is a matter that the entire sports community is curious about. Was President Dursun Özbek in the stadium or not when this incident occurred? I would appreciate it if this issue is clarified. They should deal with their own issues; they have many problems. Göztepe’s statement is also unbelievable.”
