Dursun Özbek lashes out at Ali Koç: 'Why are you breaking the neck of a Galatasaray employee?'

Galatasaray President Dursun Özbek made statements regarding Fenerbahçe President Ali Koç during a live broadcast on HT Spor.

"A PRESIDENT CANNOT BECOME CHAMPION FOR 6 YEARS..."

Responding to the question, "Do you think there is a problem with the tone in Turkish football?", Dursun Özbek said, "There is a problem with the tone in Turkish football. Specifically, the place where sports clubs compete is on the pitch. 11 people on one side, 11 people on the other, they throw a ball in the middle, one wins and one loses. It should end there. The problem with large communities is this; imagine a team, a president has been waiting for a championship for 6 years and it doesn't happen. Then the pressure from the audience and social media pushes people toward a different attitude, rhetoric, and behavior. That is where the tension arises."

"WHY ARE YOU BREAKING HIS NECK?"

Recalling the events that occurred after the derby played last season, Dursun Özbek stated, "Think about a match we played. Towards the end of last season... The Galatasaray-Fenerbahçe match. One week before the end. Galatasaray lost 1-0. Fenerbahçe President Ali Koç, 1.5 or 2 hours after the match ended, comes to the Galatasaray Sports Club Rams Park, enters by assaulting the people there, wants to go out onto the pitch, and so on. Is there any need for this, why! You didn't even come to the match. You won, enjoy that. Why are you breaking the neck of a Galatasaray Sports Club stadium employee? Why are you saying things like 'slap the referees', there is no need for these!"

"THIS CLIMATE IS NOT ACCEPTABLE"

Dursun Özbek also added, "Everyone is complaining about this climate, it needs to change. It is not an acceptable climate. That is why Galatasaray Sports Club has repeatedly stated that this issue should be resolved with moderation. I hope we do not experience similar situations this season. I hope the events we learned lessons from in the past are not repeated. I do not have such an expectation for this season. In the match we played against Fenerbahçe, there were only minor things where the executives were located. There was no tension on the pitch."