Altaylı criticizes attack on referee Meler: 'The Football Federation is responsible'

Journalist Fatih Altaylı evaluated the attack on referee Halil Umut Meler by Ankaragücü President Faruk Koca in his column.

"HE COULD HAVE LOST HIS LIFE"

Altaylı said, "The president and those with him attacked the referee, who had been knocked to the ground by a punch, with kicks while he was down, even kicking him in the head. If it weren't for those who intervened, Halil Umut Meler could have been lynched on the pitch and lost his life. The first report I received from the hospital was that Meler's cheekbone was fractured. It is only luck that it wasn't worse. He could have died. Right in the middle of the field. So, were you surprised? I was not surprised at all, not even a little bit."

Emphasizing the statements of Fenerbahçe President Ali Koç, Altaylı stated, "In a country where a club president, who seems to be of the highest quality and educated in the best schools in Turkey, tells people regarding referees, 'Don't let them breathe, react wherever you see them, even if you see them in a shopping mall,' they are obligated to announce their decision not to take the field for matches."

Altaylı added, "The Football Federation is, of course, responsible for things reaching this point. If you give a 'Fair Play award' to a club president just because he is an AK Party founder and a two-term member of parliament, that award comes back as a punch. But let no one declare the federation as the sole or primary culprit either."