Harsh criticism of referees from Trabzonspor
In a statement regarding the referees who officiated the match against Gaziantep FK, played away in the 6th week of the Trendyol Super League, Trabzonspor stated, "The injustice of referees in Turkey is an indicator of a conscious or unconscious systematic corruption and has now reached a level that exceeds our patience."
İHA
Trabzonspor Club included the following statements in its written announcement: "What happened in the match we played against Gaziantep FK this evening is the most obvious manifestation of the decay and arbitrary management that Turkish football is currently in. Referee Volkan Bayarslan's cancellation of our player Simon Banza's clear goal following a VAR decision is, in the literal sense, a scandal and a betrayal of the spirit of football.
With the incident occurring right before their eyes, resorting to VAR to cancel such an obvious goal shows how incompetent someone practicing the profession of refereeing is, or worse, how intentionally they are acting. This is not just a wrong decision; it is an insult to the labor of football and its audience. Bayarslan's constant stopping of the flow of the game and his conscious reduction of the time the ball remains in play is practically mocking the essence of football.
The spirit of Turkish football is practically gasping for air in the hands of such incompetent and biased refereeing mentalities. However, at this point, it is also wrong to place the responsibility solely on the shoulders of one referee. The real problem is the failure of the Central Referee Board (MHK), which assigns these referees, repeatedly turns a blind eye to their mistakes, and does not hold anyone accountable in any way.
While the purpose of the MHK's existence should be to ensure the justice and transparency of football, their refusal to serve this purpose is the greatest betrayal that Turkish football is subjected to. This system has long since become a decrepit structure where justice and transparency do not function.
What the TFF must do now is to reform this rotten order by conducting a radical self-criticism within itself. How much longer will it be tolerated that referees cease to be symbols of justice and turn into spineless puppets that determine the course of the game? Who will put an end to this arbitrariness, this order, and these scandals?" the statement concluded.