Turkey referee punched: Football to resume on December 19 after suspension due to violent scenes

Turkish Football Federation has announced the resumption of playing activities from December 19 after they were suspended on Tuesday (Dec 12) for violent scenes. On Monday, MKE Ankaragucu President Faruk Koca along with two other men attacked referee Halil Umut Meler after a Turkish Super League match against Caykur Kizespor. The match ended in a 1-1 draw which resulted in violent actions from the Ankaragucu officials later resulting in suspension of the league and all football activities.

Football to resume on December 19

"We had decided to postpone the matches in all leagues indefinitely. With the decision we took today, all leagues will restart on Tuesday, December 19," Turkish Football Federation chief Mehmet Buyukeksi said.

He told reporters that weekend matches will be rescheduled to help deal with the incident's repercussions.

"We expect Halil Umut Meler to take part in Euro 2024. There is no possibility of him quitting refereeing right now."

What was the incident?

Koca was seen running onto the pitch after the match concluded on Monday night where his side Ankaragucu conceded a penalty in the 97th minute. The resulting penalty was scored by Adolfo Gaich which saw Caykur Kizespor salvage a point. The match had plenty of flash points which had seen Ankaragucu go down to 10 men after Ali Sowe was sent off in the 50th minute for the hosts. However, despite this Ankaragucu led until the 97th minute before the penalty was converted having earlier taken the lead in the 14th minute through Olimpiu Morutan.

After the final whistle, Koca and two others ran onto the pitch and attacked the referee while punching and stamping referee Meler. It was later reported by Turkish media that Meler had suffered a facial fracture and an injury to the eye.

As a consequence of the incident, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suspended all football activities in the nation. It was also later revealed that he spoke to referee Meler and said that "saddened and disturbed" him.

However, referee Meler is now fine and released a statement about the incident where he suffered serious injuries to his eye.

"Faruk Koca punched me under my left eye and I fell to the ground. While I was on the ground, they kicked my face and other parts of my body many times," Meler said.

"Faruk Koca told me and my fellow referees: 'I will finish you'. Addressing me in particular, he said: 'I will kill you'."