Galatasaray files objection regarding referee appointment

The following statement was made by the yellow-red club regarding the matter:

"As Galatasaray Sports Club, we feel the need to share our views and concerns with the public regarding the referee appointment made by the Turkish Basketball Federation's Central Referee Board for the ÇBK Mersin - Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring match, which is the 3rd week fixture of the Halkbank Women's Basketball Super League to be played on October 26, 2025.

Turgut Işık, one of the referees appointed to the match in question, officiated the Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring - Fenerbahçe Opet (04.01.2025) and Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring - ÇBK Mersin (01.02.2025) matches played by our Women's Basketball Team last season, which were neck-and-neck until the final possession; certain calls made or not made in these matches directly affected the outcomes.

In both matches, Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring was defeated by a single-possession margin, and certain decisions created serious concerns within our club regarding fair officiating.

Specifically, in the ÇBK Mersin match, our opponent took 25 free throws while our team went to the line only once; this statistic clearly affected the balance of the game.

Following these matches, our club conveyed the grievances experienced to the President of the Central Referee Board, Mr. Recep Ankaralı, on multiple occasions; however, through his actions and statements, Recep Ankaralı has become a partner in all these events by attempting to legitimize what we believe to be deliberate wrong decisions instead of taking precautions regarding what occurred.

The appointment of the same referee to our OGM Ormanspor match in the first week of the new season, and now the assignment of the same individual again for the ÇBK Mersin away game, has cast a shadow over the principle of objectivity from our club's perspective.

In this regard, in our official petition submitted to the Turkish Basketball Federation Central Referee Board, we state that:

We request that the referee appointment made for the match in question be reviewed and changed,

And in the event that our request is not accepted, we demand that more than one referee evaluator be assigned, and we present this to the information of the public.

As Galatasaray Sports Club, we see the establishment of a fair, impartial, and trustworthy management approach as our most important priority for the development and reputation of Turkish basketball.

In this direction, we invite all stakeholders to take joint responsibility so that effort and investment can be rewarded under equal conditions on the court."

News Source: 12punto