Engin Baltacı: 'We saw that the referee of an operation was on the pitch'

In the 9th week of the Trendyol Super League, Beşiktaş was defeated 2-1 by Galatasaray away from home. After the match, the black-and-white team's second president, Engin Baltacı, made statements to the press.

''WE SAW THAT THE REFEREE OF AN OPERATION WAS ON THE PITCH''

Starting his words by evaluating the match, Baltacı said, “It was not the match we wanted. It could have been, but it wasn't. But first of all, I owe a debt of gratitude. I would like to thank the Beşiktaş fans who created an atmosphere as if they were in their own stadium this evening. We also have a thank you to our players. We could have achieved a brilliant result with 10 men.

It was an unlucky penalty. The red card was also unlucky. For some reason, all the bad luck keeps finding Beşiktaş. And these misfortunes always happen after certain statements. There was an Ali Şansalan operation during the week. Everyone can see that it reached its result. Whatever I say on this subject, Beşiktaş Club will be referred to the PFDK (Professional Football Disciplinary Board) again. If I take questions, you will ask me about the referee, and I will say; was there a referee on the pitch? We saw that the referee of an operation was on the pitch. You all wrote and drew that Ali Şansalan was the referee for this match throughout the week, but it was changed with the statements of the Galatasaray side. What can I say about this? I have never entered into position interpretations, and there is no need for that right now.

Did we make a statement before the match? We could have created a controversy other than what we said after the statement made by the rival team's executive. If a result is obtained by creating controversy, we could have created controversy too, but we will not. Beşiktaş Club does not do such things. That is why Beşiktaş is greater than all of them, it is the only great one. I believe that free, impartial people will evaluate all other issues very well,” he said.

''DID YOU SEE US CREATING CONTROVERSY?''

When asked where they got the information that the algorithm first assigned Ali Şansalan to the match and then it was manually changed to Halil Umut Meler, Engin Baltacı said, “You wrote it, you said it in the newspapers. The rival team's executive said it. We also understood from his explanation that a game is being played, that's why we made a statement. I don't know if there was a referee error in the match or not. But my colleagues say that the assistant referee gave the penalty. Let's not get into position interpretations. What I am focusing on is this; Ali Şansalan was assigned to the match, then did Halil Umut Meler come out with an algorithm? If you remember, Halil Umut Meler had also come out for one of our matches manually. Why Halil Umut Meler? Why was Ali Şansalan's name brought to the agenda and then Halil Umut Meler appeared? This needs to be appreciated. This applies to every team. Have you seen us come out before a match and create controversy about the referee assignment? If someone is creating controversy before us, we have to respond.

We are all putting in effort, and then when there is bad chanting from the stands—which also happens to us—you know what kind of insults we are subjected to on social media. I wish and hope that the federation also follows and sees this. Let them also see what we hear because of the federation's algorithm, artificial intelligence, and manual assignments. But who can control the stands? If we could, we would control them for ourselves. Don't the stands chant for us to resign? Beşiktaş fans do not act under anyone's guidance. No one can make Beşiktaş fans chant. Beşiktaş fans chant what they see. Whether there is direction or not, that is not our concern,” he said.