Beşiktaş fans will not be admitted to the Twente match

Beşiktaş Club has reacted to the decision to ban their fans from attending the away match against Dutch side Twente, which will take place on January 30, 2025, in the 8th week of the UEFA Europa League.

In a statement made by the black-and-white club on social media, it was stated that Beşiktaş fans would not be admitted to the match to be played at Twente Stadium due to the decision of Enschede Mayor Roelof Bleker, adding: "We consider the attitude displayed by Enschede Mayor Roelof Bleker towards our fans—who accepted away team supporters in the matches Twente played against Union Saint-Gilloise, Lazio, and Fenerbahçe in the UEFA Europa League this season—as discrimination, and we do not accept this decision. Enschede Mayor Roelof Bleker has signed off on an extremely unfair decision by turning a deaf ear to our call not to take any action before the meeting to be held on Tuesday, December 17, with the participation of our club, UEFA, Twente, and Enschede Municipality officials regarding the match in question."

The statement, which noted that both Twente Club and UEFA had conveyed their discomfort regarding the issue to both them and Bleker, included the following remarks:

"Despite this, Roelof Bleker, who cannot ensure security in the city where he serves as mayor, has taken the easy way out and ruled that our fans will not be admitted to the match with baseless excuses. Bleker, who took this decision shortly before the match without any consultation with us after the UEFA announced on August 31, 2024, that the FC Twente-Beşiktaş match would be played on January 30, 2025, has also put our fans, who made travel plans to be with our team in a match that carries great importance for our club to advance to the next round, in a difficult situation. As Beşiktaş, we inform the public that we will defend the rights of our club and our fans to the end, and that we will make initiatives before our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UEFA for Enschede Mayor Roelof Bleker to reverse his unlawful decision."