Decision on foreign referee for the Galatasaray - Fenerbahçe derby!

Adana Demirspor, which was a guest of Galatasaray in the 23rd week of the Süper Lig, withdrew from the pitch under management instructions following a penalty decision given against them.

While Adana Demirspor's protest continues to remain on the agenda, it has been learned that the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) management held a meeting yesterday (February 12).

It was noted that the meeting, which lasted approximately 5 hours, was the longest in the federation's history. Türkiye Gazetesi sports writer Tahir Kum stated that important decisions were made during the critical meeting.

Accordingly, the first agenda item of the meeting was related to the events that took place during the Galatasaray – Adana Demirspor match. From now on, the federation will publish the conversations regarding such positions even if VAR does not intervene. The first example of this occurred yesterday, and the conversations during the penalty moment in this match, which resulted in the southern team's withdrawal from the pitch, were announced in accordance with the principle of transparency.

From now on, teams that withdraw from the pitch will face heavy consequences. A one-year ban is coming for the president and coach who withdraw the team from the pitch. The team that withdraws will also be penalized with a -9 point deduction.

The biggest agenda item at the historic meeting was the discussion of foreign referees for the Galatasaray – Fenerbahçe derby to be played on February 24. The TFF will now bring in a trio of foreign referees for matches, provided that both clubs facing each other in the league request it. It was decided that these referees must be high-level officials who have managed quarter-final, semi-final, or final matches in organizations such as the Champions League and the Europa League.

While verbal statements regarding foreign referees have come from the Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe camps, if there is an official application, a high-level foreign referee will officiate the derby.

On the other hand, the TFF management also referred the file to the ethics committee for the investigation of the Beyoğlu Yeni Çarşı-Vanspor match, where a referee who had high-stakes betting on three yellow cards did not record the 4th yellow card in his report.