Who threw that punch at Halil Umut Meler?

I caught the final period when Coşkun Özarı was the head coach of Galatasaray. I even watched a few matches played by the team he managed at Mithatpaşa Stadium. He would maintain his gentlemanly demeanor even in highly controversial situations. Not only him, but his players on the pitch would not argue with the referee or the opponent, and the few isolated incidents that did occur were quickly resolved amicably. 

Was it only Coşkun Özarı?

Certainly not...

I didn't get to see Gündüz Kılıç, but those who watched him say that no one ever heard or saw him even shouting while watching a match...

Take the English head coach Brian Birch, for example... The most excitable coach of the yellow-reds. I remember; he couldn't stay still, he would jump up and down. But not a single bad word would ever come out of his mouth.

Turgay Şeren, Jupp Derwall, Gheorghe Hagi... 

None of them could ever be seen showing the slightest disrespect to anyone.

However, today's head coach Okan Buruk swears at referees almost every other match without even feeling the need to hide his lips.

And with the foulest of language...

*

Let's look at Fenerbahçe: Cihat Arman, Fikret Arıcan, Abdullah Gegiç, Basri Dirimlili... Şükrü Ersoy, Ziya Şengül...

Those from the recent era; Mustafa Denizli, Oğuz Çetin, Aykut Kocaman, Ersun Yanal, Vitor Pereira...

Did they ever attack the referees with insults and profanity?

No...

* 

Has anyone at Beşiktaş ever heard such words from Baba Hakkı (Hakkı Yeten), Cihat Arman, Eşref Bilgiç, Recep Adanır, or Metin Türel? Have Gündüz Tekin Onay or Serpil Hamdi Tüzün ever shown the slightest bit of disrespect to anyone?

Can you find a single news report in the archives of sports pages regarding such an incident?

Take Şenol Güneş, for example... A veteran player and coach... We have certainly seen him get angry, but never have we seen him use insults!

*

In Trabzon, there were Özkan Sümer, Ahmet Suat Özyazıcı... You could make them diplomats! They were such gentlemanly figures...

Not only among the 'Big Four,' but in no team is there a president or a player who would jump onto the pitch and punch a referee.

Until the day three seasons ago when Marcao grabbed his teammate Kerem Aktürkoğlu by the throat, “legal incidents on the pitch”also involved the footballer! 

*

“Do you know with whom this clean tradition ended?” If I were to ask this question, shall I tell you the first name that comes to your mind?

Fatih Terim!

Yes, this friend also brought swearing to the football pitches, as well as insults...

Ask the referees who officiated matches played by Galatasaray during his era; there isn't one who hasn't been subjected to the most vile insults!

As long as you make the slightest mistake or fail to blow the whistle the way Terim wants; your entire lineage is gone!

His aggression, bullying, and thuggish behavior ushered in a new era in our football.

His shouting while foaming at the mouth, his charging at referees, his blatant insults...

A generation grew up like this!

*

Now we look; the children he raised are following in his footsteps...

Okan Buruk, who does very successful work, curses at mothers and wives, while Emre Belözoğlu points his finger and threatens the referee on the pitch... 

Club President Faruk Koca, emboldened by him, goes and punches the referee; unable to contain his rage, he kicks him...

*

We no longer hear the name of Fatih Terim on the football pitches.

And I hope we never do...

The gentleman is now one of the leading actors in the loan sharking market... And the students who were deceived by him and followed in his footsteps are busy licking their wounds...

*

Whatever Fatih Terim is in football, İbrahim Tatlıses and, of course, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are the same in their own fields...

These names, which have left their mark on the last twenty-five years, taught an entire generation uglified ambition, profanity, insults, and anger.

Some said, "Take your mother and get out of here," while others directed their insults straight at mothers and sisters!

Young people who take them as role models have also started to use insults and profanity just like them, and to become just as vulgar.

*

In short, my friends, even though the person who beat the referee at Monday's MKE Ankaragücü-Çaykur Rizespor match was Ankaragücü President Faruk Koca, one of the founders of the AKP and a former member of parliament... In reality, it is Fatih Terim, it is İbrahim Tatlıses, it is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Before their era, neither the world of football, nor art, nor politics had become this corrupted.

*

Of course, Faruk Koca should stay in prison and serve his sentence...

But does the AKP become "cleansed" once they expel him from party membership?

And what about the baby-faced Okan Buruk, Emre Belözoğlu who creates incidents everywhere he goes, and their mentors Terim, Tatlıses, and Erdoğan?

Who will expel them from our lives, when, and how?