Osman Zeki Korkmaz: 'We will clear out the mankurts'

Süper Lig’s 31st week saw İstanbulspor lose 4-0 at home to Çaykur Rizespor. Following the match, İstanbulspor manager Osman Zeki Korkmaz made statements at a press conference. Stating that the match ended for them logically in the 44th minute, Korkmaz said, "This match ended logically for us in the 44th minute. A penalty that was clearly visible from the pilot camera was not given, and we conceded a goal immediately after. Afterwards, we were just on the pitch to fulfill the rules. Before the third goal, Alikulov should have been sent off with a second yellow card. In that position, Alikulov made an unbalanced challenge on his opponent from behind. There is no other explanation for it than a yellow card," he said.

THEY DIDN'T EVEN GO TO VAR

Inviting the football public to interpret the incident in the 44th minute of the match, Osman Zeki Korkmaz said, "This decision was a decision of 'one team has already been relegated anyway, let's not get in the way of the other team.' Perhaps there is an attitude against our president. They should review these attitudes. We are following people just as much as we are being followed. We will have reactions to improve Turkish football. Why didn't the referee go to VAR for the incident in the 44th minute? A dialogue took place between us and a Süper Lig referee. A Süper Lig referee says they choose which positions to go to VAR for. If they are going to hold a sincere meeting, I will tell them the name of that referee. They are doing this intentionally. They didn't even go to VAR because this position would cause them trouble. Akintola clearly hits Özcan starting from his chin. There is a clear intervention. There is no debate. The history of Turkish football has seen that a penalty was not given for this position involving İstanbulspor," he said.

WE WILL CLEAR THE MANKURTS FROM AMONG US

Stating that they demand the release of VAR records, Korkmaz said, "What happened in this position? Halil Umut Meler is the referee who gives penalties most easily in Turkey. If he had officiated this match, he would have given the penalty. In the 44th minute, Turkish football hit a wall. The 44th minute of this match, the referee, and the VAR referee should be examined. In recent weeks, there are only 4 people in pink jerseys on the field sent to officiate the match. As if they are performing an assigned task. The story of the mankurt, which appears in a novel by Chingiz Aitmatov, is told. In Central Asia, a person who emerges from a pit after being tortured becomes a mankurt. In one story, a mankurt kills his mother. He does the task he is given. We are not mankurts; we are thinking people. We will clear these mankurts who stand in our way to improve Turkish football from among us," he said.