Diyarbakır-Galatasaray match now moves to soccer pitch

This game attracted banner headlines in the local media all week long not at all because of its importance, but because of the politics surrounding it.

To recap, Diyarbakırspor Chairman Çetin Sümer opened an old can of worms for the second time this season on Sunday when he threatened to boycott today’s match against Galatasaray in reaction to the “racist taunts” directed at his team during the Gaziantepspor match last weekend -- unless the Turkish Soccer Federation (TFF) and others concerned took immediate action to stop this menace.

“If you watched that match, you would agree we are right. The racist stance against our team was not limited to the Gaziantepspor match,” Sümer stated. We have informed our governor, mayor and civil society organizations in Diyarbakır about our decision [to withdraw the team from the league]. Our decision is final,” Sümer noted.

On Thursday Sümer reneged on his boisterous threat to boycott today’s match or pull out of the league completely after a meeting with civil society organizations. “All [civil society organizations] in Diyarbakır have voiced their views in favor of our team continuing its Super League. It is therefore incumbent upon us to respect these views despite previous announcements to the contrary,” he added.

This was the second time in as many months that Sümer has made this threat this season. The first was in late September after a Diyarbakır match in Bursa.

If we may add, racism has no place in modern-day sports and perpetrators should be severely punished. But threatening every now and then to withdraw from the league may not be the wisest thing to do. In a way, it is tantamount to rewarding those who try to bring the beautiful game into disrepute. Don’t forget, burn not your house to fright the mouse away.

Let the action begin

All said and done, the Diyarbakır-Galatasaray match will kick off at 8 p.m. today. The Galatasaray Lions are brimming with confidence after their triumphant UEFA Europa League campaign on Thursday, when they routed Romania’s Dinamo Bucharest 3-0 to advance to the sixteenth-final 7-1 on aggregate.

The Lions practiced at the Florya Metin Oktay facilities on Friday for this match. The team worked on its porous defense, which has come under criticism this season, as well as on basic tactics.

Injured striker Shabani Christophe Nonda, defender Emre Aşık and young winger Aydın Yılmaz trained separately from the team, while Czech striker Milan Baros, who broke his foot during a recent derby with Fenerbahçe, is still recuperating. And the Lions will definitely be missing suspended Ivory Coast striker Abdul Kader Keita and Brazil playmaker Elano Blumer.

But captain-playmaker Arda Turan, who is as fit as a fiddle, will be available today.

On a player-to-player basis, the championship-chasing Lions with 25 points are the favorites to beat Diyar, which has only 12. Any other result would be considered an upset.

Today’s Super League fixtures and referees  

Ankaragücü-Kasımpaşa    14:00

Referee:     Aytekin Durmaz

Eskişehirspor-Denizlispor     14:00

Referee:     Hüseyin Göçek

Manisaspor-Gaziantepspor    14:00

Referee:     Özgüç Türkalp

Sivasspor-Kayserispor    16:00

Referee:     Özgür Yankaya

Diyarbakırspor-Galatasaray     20:00

Referee:     Tolga Özkalfa

Live on Lig TV

20:00 Diyarbakır-Galatasaray

16:00 Sivasspor-Kayserispor