İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on Tuesday called for the elimination of political interference in sports in light of violent incidents after a football match between Fenerbahçe and Trabzonspor on Sunday.
“Sports are above political parties and politics. Let’s completely cleanse sports of politics,” İmamoğlu said.
The call to action follows a disturbing incident at a football match where fans stormed the pitch and attacked Fenerbahçe players as they celebrated their victory against the home team.
The incident has led Fenerbahçe, one of Turkey’s top football clubs, to schedule an emergency meeting on April 2 to discuss possible withdrawal from the league. Club President Ali Koç criticized the violence and expressed the club’s readiness to face relegation if necessary. The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) is investigating, while FIFA President Gianni Infantino has condemned the violence.
Twelve people were detained in connection to the post-match violence, with two of the detainees arrested on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, there’s a desire by the political forces in our country to interfere in every aspect of sports,” İmamoğlu said.
The İstanbul mayor, a member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), hails from Trabzon, where the incident took place.
What prompted him to make this statement was the growing rift between Fenerbahçe and Trabzonspor.
In 2011 Fenerbahçe finished the season in first place, winning the championship that year, while its closest rival, Trabzonspor, finished in second.
In the summer of 2011 an infamous match-fixing scandal broke out, involving the then-chairman of Fenerbahçe, Aziz Yıldırım. This led to numerous arrests, including that of Yıldırım, on suspicion of match-fixing in 19 matches. Some Fenerbahçe fans saw the scandal as a conspiracy against their club by pro-government prosecutors.
Yıldırım was sentenced to over six years in prison in 2012, but the case was retried in 2015 and ended in acquittals.
Trabzonspor fans have never forgotten that they finished second in a season overshadowed by alleged match-fixing and do not see Fenerbahçe’s 2011 championship as legitimate.