The former president of Turkish football club Ankaragücü, who was arrested earlier this month after punching a referee at the end of a game in Ankara, received a hero’s welcome following his release pending trial on Wednesday.
Faruk Koca, 59, a former Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker, on December 11 knocked referee Halil Umut Meler to the ground with a vicious punch to the face on the pitch following a 1-1 draw with Rizespor, leaving the official with a black eye.
He was arrested the following day along with two other men who took part in the attack.
Koca was released on Wednesday when a petition from his lawyer objecting to his imprisonment was accepted by an Ankara court. He spent 15 days in jail.
Ankaragücü fans set off fireworks and shouted slogans to welcome Koca as he was released from Sincan Prison in Ankara on Wednesday evening.
Koca later held a news conference at the Ankaragücü facilities where he said he was very sorry for dominating the national agenda with his attack on the referee when there are more important issues like the ongoing tragedy in Gaza and the Turkish soldiers killed in northern Iraq.
He said he was reacting to an injustice but admitted that the way he reacted might have been wrong.
“I’m one of the last people you’d expect to do such a thing, but we’re human beings, and we react to mistakes and injustices,” said Koca.
On the evening of the match, Koca appeared to be incensed at Meler for sending off one of his players and then awarding a stoppage-time goal that allowed visiting Çaykur Rizespor to leave Ankara with a 1-1 draw.
He also offered his thanks to all the people from the football world who expressed solidarity with him while he was in jail, even fans of other football clubs.
The hero’s welcome received by Koca and his short stay in jail was criticized at a time when hundreds of political prisoners have been languishing in prisons for years.
Journalist Baransal Ağca tweeted that although opposition lawmaker Can Atalay has not been released from prison despite a court decision ordering it, a person who punched a referee in front of millions is released from jail and receives a hero’s welcome.
“This is a republic of gangs and the judiciary of those gangs,” he tweeted.
Can Atalay'ın tahliye kararının uygulanmadığı gün milyonlarca insanın gözü önünde hakem döven bir kişi salınıyor ve böyle karşılanıyor. Çeteler cumhuriyeti. Çeteler yargısı. https://t.co/wNFt2iAD5M
— Baransel Ağca🇦🇷 (@brnslagca) December 27, 2023
Koca and the two others who kicked the referee were arrested on charges of “injuring and threatening a public official” as part of an investigation launched by the Ankara West Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The incident, which sparked outrage, led to the suspension of the Turkish Super Lig by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) until December 19.
Koca announced his resignation from Ankaragücü following the incident. He was subsequently handed a lifetime ban by Turkey’s football federation.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is known to have close ties to Koca, condemned the incident in a message on the X social media platform at the time, but there were claims that Koca’s close ties to Erdoğan and his government may help him go unpunished after the public outrage dies down.
Following the incident, the AKP referred Koca, who was also among the co-founders of the party, to its disciplinary board, demanding his dismissal. The party’s Central Executive Board (MYK) subsequently decided to eject him from the party.
Meler was kept under observation at a hospital for two days due to some bleeding around his left eye and a fracture from the impact of the punch.
The referee, who spoke to police at the hospital, said Koca threatened to “finish him and the other referees on the pitch off” and said, “I will kill you,” in reference to Meler.
