Ali Koç breaks his silence after being attacked at the Göztepe match: He explains why he went onto the pitch

Fenerbahçe President Ali Koç held a press conference regarding the events that took place during the Göztepe match.

"I want to say something about those who deal with Fenerbahçe. Unfortunate events took place over the weekend," said Ali Koç. "First of all, these are elements that should not happen, but what we see in certain media circles is an attempt to portray it as if Fenerbahçe is the culprit, as if Fenerbahçe provoked it. An environment is being created where the perpetrator is almost seen as legitimate and justified. Do not continue to make Fenerbahçe suffer this persecution. We are used to it. We are used to championships being stolen. We are used to being shown as the culprit. I am physically attacked. 'Oh, why are you on the pitch?' Our bus is shot at, and it is still an unsolved case. As Fenerbahçe, we are used to it. It has become the norm. We are used to the injustices and the persecution we are subjected to. Now you need to decide how long you want to continue this. I don't think this is a situation that provides any benefit to this country," he stated.

Ali Koç continued as follows:

"Let's come to Saturday evening; why did the events happen, and why did I go onto the pitch? We were subjected to the exact same things that our fans were subjected to when they went to an away match during the July 3 process."

"We hadn't even reached the pitch yet; we were outside the stadium. In front of the police, jerseys were taken, our jerseys were burned. There is no action taken. The reason I went down there—we were leading in the match. If I were to provoke, would I need to go onto the pitch? We were leading 2-0, our fans were in agony. Our fans were shouting, 'Management, protect us.' Three of our executives went from outside the stadium to the buses. Burak Bey and I went down from the pitch. Because we have accreditation. Why did we go down? There were unpleasant incidents between the police and our fans during halftime. We showed a reflex to calm the situation and get our fans into the stands."

"JUST LIKE WHAT WE EXPERIENCED DURING THE FETÖ ERA"

"We had to act against some instructions, but we were forced to, we had to do it. I didn't want other incidents to occur. What happened? The evacuation gates were opened, our fans were taken into the stands, and at least they watched the remaining 40 minutes of the match. When we went onto the pitch, the match hadn't started yet. Due to the physical location of the stadium, it took us 10 minutes to get onto the pitch. By the time we finished our business, unfortunately, the match had started. We had no reason to be on the pitch while the match was being played. But why did our fans suffer this persecution? The fans were gathering in Buca and Bornova. Some members of the police force were saying, 'Let's get those coming from İzmir into the stadium as soon as possible, and then bring those coming from Istanbul from Buca,' but the supervisor did not accept it. Our fans arrived at the stadium at 21:30, and many of them were kept on the bus until 22:00. It wasn't just our fans who were pepper-sprayed, but the executives as well. It is just like what we experienced during the FETÖ era."

"THEY TOOK OFF THE HANDCUFFS, HE WATCHED THE MATCH"

"Why did the police keep our fans waiting? They told us they arrived late, but we saw that it wasn't the case. As we were leaving, the events everyone knows about took place. The issue we will pursue to the end is the attitude of our police force there. The police are the state. The state must show its authority. When the state does not do this, a chaotic environment is created. They took this person away by the scruff of the neck. Then, inside, they took off the handcuffs, and the guy watched the match. We didn't know these things. The match ends, and you ask what you are going to do with this man. The sports branch manager says, 'We took him into custody, we processed him.' I filed a complaint against him as well. We ask for documents, they say ask the prosecutor's office. We go to 20-25 away games. When an incident occurs, processing is done at the stadium. They didn't do any processing for this guy. The sports branch manager, who represents the state, is lying; we think he has been taken into custody, but we see the man at the stadium as we are leaving. We go back and ask, 'Didn't you take him into custody?' They say, 'He is a local tradesman, he has nowhere to run, we know where he is. We will take him later.' Didn't you tell us you took him? We returned as a delegation. No processing was done. Then a journalist follows this person, and this person leaves the stadium from the garage, shaking hands with the police. Where is the state? If this were done to another team, would you have handled it this way? Did someone give you instructions? We will get the answers to these. We have the documents for these."

"WE WERE HARASSED AT EVERY REFEREE WHISTLE"

"From the start of the match until halftime, we were harassed at every referee whistle. We were harassed and insulted. We didn't say a word. We scored a goal, we didn't celebrate so as not to cause any unpleasantness. Halftime came. We asked the police officer there why they weren't doing anything. He said, 'I'm sorry, you're right, but I'm the only one.' There was one police officer in the protocol area. The state—'I will look sympathetic to the host, I will look sympathetic to the executives'—it doesn't work like that. The state must show that it is the state. If it doesn't, things reach these points. The person's criminal record is already so extensive... How do they give accreditation to such a person, how is he given the role of an executive responsible for fans? It's not something that should happen. We have filed a criminal complaint against him and the relevant police officers, and we will continue to do so."

News Source: 12punto