The PFDK also imposed a total of TL 50,000 in fines on the team for incidents caused by their fans. Following a meeting on Thursday, the board penalized Diyarbakırspor due to incidents that occurred during and after the game with Gaziantepspor on Nov. 1. While Sümer and Suat Önen, a Diyarbakırspor official, were banned for 30 days for their unsportsmanlike conduct and for damaging the prestige of the Turkish Soccer Federation (TFF), the top soccer authority in Turkey, the club’s vice president, İsmail Yiğit, was banned for 60 days and was fined TL 10,000 for swearing at a referee. In addition, two Diyarbakırspor officials, Turhan İlgin and Salih Yavuz, were each banned for 67 days and fined TL 10,000 for swearing at a referee and for not properly displaying their accreditation cards.
The coach of the team, Ziya Doğan, was given a two-game ban for unsportsmanlike conduct, “damaging the prestige of the TFF.” The club was fined TL 50,000 for incidents caused by their fans during the match against Gaziantepspor and TL 5,000 for failing to check accreditation cards.
Meanwhile, Gaziantepspor was also fined TL 15,000 due to the rowdiness of its fans during the game with Diyarbakırspor. In the Gaziantepspor-Diyarbakırspor match played on Nov. 1, the host team, Diyarbakırspor, lost the game 2-1, and a number of Diyarbakırspor players and officials as well as the Diyarbakırspor president’s driver, who went onto the field when the match was over with someone else’s accreditation card and did not hand over said card to a soccer official when asked, attacked the referee. Sümer declared after the match that they would boycott the league by not appearing in the next match against Galatasaray due to racist slogans that accused the club of supporting the outlawed terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and which were directed at them during the match. The team also alleged that there have been systematic referee mistakes made against Diyarbakırspor. However, the president made a statement on Thursday retracting his comments about boycotting the Galatasaray match.
Minister: Diyarbakır must continue for peace
In addition, the decision of Diyarbakırspor to continue to play in the league also pleased state authorities. “Diyarbakır continuing in the league is very important for both them and for peace,” State Minister Ömer Faruk Özak has said, supporting the decision of the club not to boycott the league.
Stating that he condemns the slogans chanted against Diyarbakırspor during soccer matches, Özak recalled that everybody criticized the incidents that occurred during and after the game with Bursaspor, in which Bursaspor fans accused their rivals of separatism and of being pro-PKK.
Benzer Haberler 
National
