Acun Ilıcalı: “We Trust Our Players Ahead of the Galatasaray Derby”

Fenerbahçe Vice President Acun Ilıcalı made statements ahead of the Ziraat Cup quarter-final match against Galatasaray, which will take place on Wednesday, April 2.

“WE TRUST OUR PLAYERS”

“It’s a very important match, of course. There’s little to be said about derbies because these matches remain in everyone’s memory. The games speak for themselves. Once again, we’ll face Galatasaray at Kadıköy. We trust our players. Their recent rise in performance, the decrease in injuries, and the momentum we’ve gained with our coach excite us. We believe it will be a great match.”

“OUR MOST IMPORTANT MESSAGE IS TO OUR FANS”

“Our most important message is to our fans. For the past two months, our fans have truly been our 12th man. Their performance has risen alongside the team. We always feel their presence as the 12th man in Kadıköy. We expect the same in this match. We want them to be fully focused on the game and make their energy felt. Our players feed off the fans’ energy. Let’s support our team unconditionally for the full 90 minutes. Let’s create that passion and contribute to our players’ performance.”

FOREIGN REFEREE STATEMENT

“First of all, let me say this for the 51st time—I said on Friday night that we want foreign referees. Now, for the 52nd time—I repeat, we want foreign referees. We have always demanded foreign referees. Yesterday, Mr. İbrahim Hatipoğlu made a very interesting statement. A scandalous one. If I call it memory loss, it wouldn’t be enough; if I say it’s a lack of knowledge, that wouldn’t fit either. Three days after our statement on Friday, he says, ‘They are not speaking.'”

“HE MADE A SCANDALOUS STATEMENT”

“What caught my attention the most, the truly scandalous part, was this: ‘We had an advantage with referees in our home matches,’ they had an advantage. He says, ‘Our rival created a perception, manipulated the agenda, and brought in a foreign referee.’ He is literally saying, ‘We had an advantage with local referees in our home games, and our rival created a perception, did this and that.’ He even blames me, saying, ‘A foreign referee was brought in.’

I have a question: What kind of referee advantage does Galatasaray have at home? We’ve been asking this for two years. We’ve been saying that referees are not fair to Galatasaray’s opponents at their home matches. Now, a Galatasaray executive comes out and says, ‘We had an advantage with local referees in our home matches.’ Doesn’t this prove us right? That’s exactly what we’ve been saying—yes, you had an advantage at home.

Meanwhile, Fenerbahçe is saying, ‘Give us foreign referees even for our home games; we want justice.’ The side asking for special treatment is Galatasaray. Unfortunately, this is proof. They are saying, ‘There was a local referee in our home game, pressure was applied, and it was changed to a foreign referee.’ This is now proven. I will keep bringing this up in the future. It’s a scandalous statement. The moment you say, ‘We had an advantage with local referees at home,’ you are admitting that you exert pressure on referees and turn it into an advantage. Let them say something different now, so I can at least have a laugh.”

“THEY CAUSED AN UPROAR”

“Could it be that Galatasaray is subtly threatening the referee with their remarks? You know, the referee of the match attended a meeting under the nickname ‘Galatasaray.’ Did we request this referee? No. They didn’t want this referee either. A referee who officiated Champions League matches was appointed, and they caused a huge uproar. Now a local referee is assigned, and they don’t want him either. This referee attended a meeting under the ‘Galatasaray’ nickname, and they’re saying, ‘Oh no, he might get confused.’

Could they be trying to put pressure on the referee? Could they be trying to influence his decision-making by objecting to something they previously had no issue with? Are they subtly warning this referee, who is very likely a Galatasaray supporter, by saying, ‘Be careful, don’t make any calls in favor of Fenerbahçe’?”