Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca arrested for punching referee!

 

I have supported Ankaragucu for 14 years and nothing surprises me anymore. I have seen so much crazy things in Turkish football, with Ankaragucu involved in a lot of those incidents. Even last nights drama which has made headlines across the rest of the world wasn't really a shock as i have seen this coming for a long time now. 

Turkish football has had problems in the past with corruption and match fixing, and for those very reasons it makes fans of most clubs sceptical of decisions that are made that go against their team. There is so much pressure from fans of Istanbul clubs to get decisions right with all 3 accusing referees of being bias against their team, especially if they lose. 

Its no different for clubs like Ankaragucu who feel that those decisions also go against the team and bias towards Istanbul clubs.

Faruk Koca who is president of Ankaragucu funnily enough won Turkish Super Lig fair play award last year. But he has for a long time been warning the TFF and referees of some of the ridiculous decisions that have went against the club, even with VAR in operation. 

Its not for me to debate whether its corruption or just woeful refereeing. But when you have a history of match fixing, corruption and a Turkish Football Federation that is completely and utterly inept, then these type of allegations are normal.

I watch very Ankargucu game, and i am not someone who has a go at referees in general. However the decisions that have went against the team dont make any sense, especially when you can now refer to VAR. Its every game we are seeing these type of decisions go against the team.

Last nights match was a huge game for the club as they are involved in a relegation battle. They had a goal chopped off early on which to be fair you could understand they referee decision and no complaints were made. 

Halil Umut Meler last night booked Ankargucu captain Ali Sowe for asking him a question in regards to a foul. You can see Ali is calm and as team captain was simply asking a question. Halil didnt like this and decided to book him. 

The full match he walked about the pitch with arrogance and made bad decision after bad decision. 

Then came the talking point as Captain Ali Sowe was shown a second yellow card for what? His arm was on his opponents back as they both challenged for the ball. It wasnt even a foul. 

If Halil did believe this was a foul then incredibly minutes later a Rizespor made the exact same challenge and wasn't booked. There were also another couple of bad challenges from Rizespor players that went unpunished. 

Ankargucu were in complete control of the match but lost a goal in injury time which saw the team drop 2 points. 

Faruk Koca saw red and entered the park and punched the referee, and another kicked him while he was on the ground. 

The Turkish FA have suspended all matches and we now await the next steps. 

I dont condone violence, but the Turkish FA until they clean the game out and form a strong federation that can take the game forward and forge relationships, these acts are only going to continue.