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Mother Nature wreaks havoc on Super League
The “mini” İstanbul derby between Beşiktaş and İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor that was due to take place at the BJK İnönü Stadium was canceled because of the heavy snow that descended upon the city all day long.
The Turkish Soccer Federation (TFF) will decide on the date this match will be replayed.
Earlier on Saturday, the match between Kasımpaşa and Bursaspor at the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium also did not take place because referee Yunus Yıldırım declared the pitch unfit for play and so the match was automatically postponed to Sunday.
The match officials and workers tried everything humanly possible for this match to be played, but they just could not beat Mother Nature.
The soccer pitch is defined by two touch lines and goal lines. These boundary lines must be clearly visible and so they were painted black, but it was to no avail as snow continued to fall incessantly on the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium.
The workers continued to do the painting, but the snow kept falling. Three times referee Yıldırım came from the dressing room and inspected the pitch and after a one-hour delay he decided to call off the match.
The fans of both teams, however, protested the postponement decision; but the coaches lauded it.
“For the quality of play, health and welfare of the players I think the referee made the right decision,” young Bursaspor coach Ertuğrul Sağlam said. “Hopefully we will play this match under better conditions [on Sunday],” he further noted.
Kasımpaşa coach Yılmaz Vural concurred. “We were against this match being played under these conditions,” he stated. This was a right decision made for the right reasons,” he added.
There was a big possibility that other Super League matches on Sunday would go according to schedule as the ice and snow were melting. Soccer pitches were inspected on Sunday morning to determine the pitch playability.
EsEs sends Manisaspor home empty-handed
The only Super League game that took place on Saturday was the Eskişehirspor-Manisaspor encounter at Eskişehir Atatürk Stadium. Host Eskişehirspor, popularly known as EsEs, won 1-0, and striker Adem Sarı’s goal in the 69th minute was the only thing that separated the two teams. EsEs coach Rıza Çalımbay, himself a former Beşiktaş and Turkey captain-winger, must have been the happiest man in the land because the victory increased Eskişehirspor’s points to 28, putting the team in contention for a place in Europe next season. The same cannot be said about Manisaspor coach Mesut Bakkal, whose team remained at 18 points and now has to fight an uphill battle against the drop.
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