The expected happens as Diyar-Bursa match called off

However, all eyes are still on the TFF to see what other penalties it will impose on Diyarbakırspor for the unruly behavior of its fans.

Looking back

There was already bad blood between Diyarbakırspor and Bursaspor after trouble erupted when the two teams met in the season’s first half at the Bursa Atatürk Stadium on Sept. 26 last year after some Bursa fans chanted racist slurs against Diyarbakırspor players and fans.

Fighting broke out in the stands, and some Diyarbakır fans ripped up the stadium seats and threw them onto the pitch. At least 10 people were injured, but that match nonetheless continued and Bursaspor won 4-0. After that eventful match, Diyarbakırspor Chairman Çetin Sümer threatened to quit the Super League but was persuaded to stay on.

Over six months have passed, but some Diyarbakır fans never forgot nor forgave. So all efforts that had been exerted for several weeks by the two clubs to try to ease tension before this match were in vain. And even the fact that Bursaspor fans were barred from attending Saturday’s match did not remedy the situation.

Vengeance is ours

The expected happened at Diyarbakır Atatürk Stadium because some Diyarbakırspor fans were bent on exacting revenge. First the bus carrying the Bursaspor players to the stadium was pelted with stones.

Inside the stadium itself, it was something else. Projectiles such as stones and other hard objects were flung onto the pitch. A sports journalist was injured, and Bursaspor’s veteran Bulgaria goalkeeper Dimitar Ivankov was hit in the foot. Play was halted, and announcements were made urging the fans to stop throwing objects onto the pitch.

But it was to no avail as no one listened. The last straw was in the 17th minute when assistant referee Kemal Yılmaz was hit in the head and fell to the ground. Central referee Abitoğlu had no choice other than to abandon the pitch and call off the match.

Trouble continued outside the stadium, and the security forces had a hard time bringing the situation under control.

“Calling off the match was the right decision under the circumstances,” young Bursaspor coach Ertuğrul Sağlam said. “This was the last thing one expected to see on the soccer pitch. Hopefully, it will not happen again,” he further stated.

Bursaspor center forward Turgay Bahadır said they were scared to death. “For a long of time, we couldn’t recover from the shock,” he said. For his part, Bursaspor teen striker Sercan Yıldırım said they knew the tension would high, “but we never expected this magnitude of violence,” he added.

Diyar’s Sümer blames others

Diyarbakırspor Chairman Sümer tried to exonerate his fans and put the blame on others, saying, “They [the fans] were provoked.”

“In the match at Bursa [last September], an announcement wasn’t even made at the stadium even though our fans were referred to as terrorists,” Sumer said.

“And the Professional Soccer Disciplinary Committee by imposing only a fine on Bursaspor made our fans feel victimized. As a club, we had been working for the past month to try and reduce the tension and made many statements in this regard to the local media,” he stated

“Bursaspor players Ivanov and captain Hüseyin Çimşir provoked the fans with their actions while warming up for this match. As a matter of fact, the Bursa players were organized. They did not want to play this match and so did everything possible to incite the fans,” Sümer noted.

“We do not approve of these unruly incidents. But it gives everyone serious food for thought if an object thrown from the stands hits the assistant referee on the back and he falls to the ground holding his head,” he further asserted.

“The pictures shown on TV belonged to the television station. For our part, we did everything possible to avert this. But everyone was looking for an excuse. As for the objects thrown to the pitch, they were not the responsibility of Diyarbakırspor but of the security officials.”

Sümer also said that the Bursaspor players left the pitch immediately after the referee, alluding to the fact that the whole thing was planned. He also said that in the Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray match at Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, an assistant referee required stitches after he was injured by an object thrown by fans in the stands, but that the match was not called off. Sümer further said there wasn’t enough reason for Saturday’s match to be called off.

Referring to the booing by Diyarbakırspor fans when the Turkish national anthem was being sung, Sümer said the angry fans were booing Bursaspor players, not the national anthem. “The national anthem is sung before any match in this stadium, and nothing like this has happened so far. It was sung today [Saturday], and the booing was directed at Bursa players,” he further said.

All said and done, footage of these violent acts was beamed into millions of homes across the land, and everybody saw what happened with their naked eyes. So no matter the reason, it was regrettable, to say the least. Something must therefore but done with alacrity to ensure that it never happens again.