December 13, (THEWILL) – The Turkish Football Federation has announced that all domestic leagues will resume play on Tuesday, December 19, after a brief suspension caused by an attack on a referee earlier this week.
Matches were halted following an incident during a first-division match in Ankara, in which the President of local club MKA Ankaragucu punched referee Halil Umut Meler on the pitch after the final whistle.
Meler was hospitalised following the attack but discharged after undergoing observations. He also received a supportive phone call from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Chairman of the Turkish Football Federation, Mehmet Buyukeksi, said that the governing body will announce penalties for the violent altercation. Weekend fixtures will be rescheduled to help address the aftermath.
“We had decided to postpone the matches in all leagues indefinitely. With the decision we took today, all leagues will restart on Tuesday, 19 December,” Buyukeksi told reporters. He added that he expects the well-respected 37-year-old referee, who is accredited for international matches, to officiate during Euro 2024 in Germany as planned.
Clips of the incident showed Ankaragucu President, Faruk Koca, rushing onto the pitch with others to attack Meler after he sent off a player and awarded an injury-time equalising goal to the visiting team, Caykur Rizespor. Meler said in a statement that Koca threatened his life during the assault: “Faruk Koca told me and my fellow referees: ‘I will finish you’. Addressing me in particular, he said: ‘I will kill you’.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
