Soccer Club President Attacks Referee on Field, Prompts Shut Down of Entire Turkish League

Faruk Koca, the President of MKE Ankaragücü, said his "brain went crazy" and he "blacked out" during the incident with the referee

The Turkish Football Federation has paused all games and a club president has been arrested after he attacked a referee on Monday night.

In a statement released by the federation on Tuesday, the league's board of directors announced that all matches in all leagues had been postponed "indefinitely" after an "inhumane attack on Halil Umut Meler, the referee of the match with a FIFA license."

Following a 1-1 draw against Caykur Rizespor, the president of football club MKE Ankaragücü, Faruk Koca, attacked referee Meler on the field on Monday evening.

According to the Associated Press, Meler fell to the ground and was kicked by two additional fans who ran onto the field during the chaotic scene.

The referee was hospitalized for a fracture near his eye, according to CBS, and is expected to be discharged on Wednesday. The outlet reported that Koca was also taken to the hospital for treatment after being considered at risk of a heart attack.

In a statement to Turkish outlet Anadolu, Meler said that Koca threatened to "kill" him during the incident. "Faruk Koca punched me under my left eye, I fell to the ground," Meler's statement to the outlet began.

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"While I was on the ground, all the people kicked my face and other parts of my body many times. Faruk Koca, along with all my referee friends, said to me, 'I will finish you.' Addressing me, he said, 'I will kill you.' I have filed a complaint against the shooter Faruk Koca and other persons. I do not want to compromise. This is all I have to say."

The Federation said, "All the criminals who attacked Halil Umut Meler will be punished in the most severe way," in its statement on Tuesday.

In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc confirmed that "all suspects and the fans who went down to the field" will be taken "into custody" following the incident.

The Minister's statement continued, "The investigation continues in all its aspects with the identification of other suspects. No one should have any doubt that our judiciary will decide on the necessary sanctions against those who cause such ugliness that we do not want to see in our fields."

President of the Federation, Mehmet Büyükekşi, said, "I wish our entire football community a speedy recovery," when addressing the situation on Tuesday. "Thank God, our referee is in good health. Hopefully, he will be discharged tomorrow."

Büyükekşi continued, "This attack deeply saddened all of us. For such issues, I wish we weren't here right now...Our coming here today is not just for the sake of getting well soon. Today we will have important meetings."

"We will provide detailed information after tomorrow's Board of Directors meeting," he added.

Koca has disputed the claims in a statement to Anadolu. The Ankaragücü president said his "aim was to react verbally to the referee and spit in his face," during an incident that "developed due to the referee's wrong decisions and provocative behavior."

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"Meanwhile, I slapped the referee in the face. The slap I gave does not cause a fracture," Koca said to the outlet, adding that Meler "threw himself on the ground" roughly "five to ten minutes" after the slap.

"They immediately removed me from the scene because I had a heart condition. I am not aware of any other incident that took place," Koca told Anadolu.

Speaking to CNN Türk, Koca claimed he was unaware of the events on Monday. “My brain went crazy, my eyesight blacked out! I don’t remember what I did!” Koca said.

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Following the game, Koca's football club MKE Ankaragücü issued a statement condemning its president's behavior.

"As MKE Ankaragücü Sports Club, we are saddened by the incident that took place this evening," the statement on X read. "We apologize to the Turkish football public and the entire sports community for the sad incident that occurred after the Çaykur Rizespor match at Eryaman Stadium."

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