Three all-British teams were established with soldiers, some of whom had past experience in professional soccer in the UK. Kadıköyspor was founded with British support, and it used to play in the Friday League. Soccer was not only soccer in occupied İstanbul.The record of the British teams was not as good as they expected. Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, Beşiktaş and Altınordu all played the British and scored quite well, but the fact that Britain was seen as the home of soccer and that the Turks hesitated to endorse this sport for so long must be taken into consideration. Fenerbahçe was particularly successful. Out of the 50 games Fenerbahçe played with the occupation teams, it won all but five. One particular game, the Harrington Cup game, passed into the history of Fenerbahçe as the apex of Fenerbahçe’s “nonviolent resistance” to occupation in the name of the whole population of İstanbul. At the time, Fenerbahçe won against a select team of British soldiers 2 to 1, embarrassing the commander of the occupation forces, Gen. Tim Harrington, who brought a special cup from London. Years later, Bedri Gürsoy, who played in the Harrington Cup game as Fenerbahçe’s attacker, said Turkey is “the only country that won a war with both the canon ball and soccer ball.”
Soccer is not only soccer around whole world, but in Turkey it is certainly not only soccer.
The recent drama surrounding Diyarbakırspor reminded us that soccer can be used by forces that want to destabilize the country. It was used in the past in Latin American and some African countries as a means to control the energy of the streets, the younger population. But once that energy is unleashed, once it is provoked to the point of violence and unrest it can be used to harm the peace and tranquility of a whole region, of the whole nation even.
What was done to the players of Diyarbakırspor in Bursa, in the first half of the league was not acceptable, and it was punished accordingly by the relevant bodies. The administration of Diyarbakırspor declared before the return game that they would welcome the players of Bursaspor with roses in their hands and not with stones. Two weeks ago the roses turned into stones, and with the help of media coverage the cancelled game was presented as a bloody battlefield. Only two people were hurt (physically), but the whole nation was hurt (in heart). Last week that energy was poured into the grounds of İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor’s green field. Those who gained access to the field by force were not trying to convince the referee of a certain position. They should have known that that was impossible. They were not trying to support their team. They should have known that such a move would hurt Diyarbakırspor more than any other party.
It is most probable that Diyarbakırspor will be declared beaten in both the games and that this will lead to its relegation to the lower ranking First League.
Why do people try to harm their own team? The only explanation I have is that those who lose the “war with the canon ball” are trying to usurp the energy gathered around the soccer ball.
They will lose this one also.
