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Turkish Cup derby suspended due to crowd trouble
- Published: April 19, 2018
The Turkish Cup semi-final clash between Fenerbahce and Besiktas was abandoned Thursday night after a crowd disturbance led to the injury of Besiktas manager Senol Gunes.
Turkish football suffered another set-back tonight after the second leg of the Fenerbahce-Besiktas Turkish Cup semi-final was abandoned due to an intense crowd disturbance that lead to the injury of Besiktas manager Senol Gunes and assistant coach Erdinc Gultekin.
The match started off like most Istanbul derbies; intense and ugly.
Besiktas defender Pepe was shown a straight red card after just 30 minutes for a reckless challenge on Fenerbahce’s midfielder Josef de Souza. This decision led to an escalation of emotions as Pepe’s teammates protested decision. Besiktas full-back Caner Erkin received a yellow card for his part in the protest.
Around the 50th minute, with the score 0-0 (2-2 on aggregate), Fenerbahce fans began throwing objects onto the pitch after an argument broke out between the visiting team players and the fans.
Things quickly escalated as attempts to calm down the fans by both players and staff resulted in an object striking Besiktas manager Senol Gunes in the head which caused him to fall heavily to the ground. Other staff like assistant coach Erdinc Gultekin, were also hit with numerous objects thrown from the home side’s fans.
Gunes was immediately rushed into the tunnel where he was bandaged and taken to a local hospital via ambulance.
Fenerbahçe deplasmanında başından yaralanan Beşiktaş Teknik Direktörü Şenol Güneş’in ambulansla hastaneye kaldırıldığı görüntüler. pic.twitter.com/D8l2Ld1fO7
— Goal Türkiye (@GoalTurkiye) April 19, 2018
After seeing what had transpired, referee Mete Kalkavan made the decision to call off the match in the 58th minute with the score 0-0.
Players and staff rushed into the tunnels as they attempted to avoid suffering injuries.
Riot police quickly began to look for the culprits and were seen arresting Fenerbahce fans in the stands. At least 15 were detained after the ordeal.
The Turkish Football Federation is expected to make a decision shortly and heavy fines and bans are expected.
Below are images from the incident;
Senol Gunes after receiving stitches to the top of his head.
Senol Gunes on the ground after being struck in the head.
