The big political scandal in Saudi Arabia also reverberated in Europe, since the Turkish Super Cup final match between Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray was cancelled in Riyadh on Friday evening.
The Istanbul clubs did not want to play the match because the organizer forbade the players to appear on the field in T-shirts with the image of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary these days.
Now the contract that the Saudis and Turks signed on the playing of this match on the soil of Saudi Arabia, more precisely in the capital city of Riyadh, has been leaked to the public.
The contract completely amnesties the Saudis for this scandal with the postponement of the match because the organizers were only guided by what was stated in the contract.
It turns out that the biggest culprit for the chaos is actually the Football Association of Turkey, which did not even include an item in the contract regarding the T-shirt with the image of Ataturk, which is why the chaos arose.
In Article 11 of the mentioned contract, the details related to the equipment in which the players should perform, are mentioned, and it is not stated at all that they will go out on the field in shirts with the image of the father of the nation.
“Teams must use kits of jerseys approved by the Football Association of Turkey for the current season in the competition,” says this article of the contract.
Also, in the second part of the contract, the following is stated: “At least 60 minutes before the game, the referee must receive a list with the players’ names, licenses, and copies of the jerseys, shorts and cleats in which both teams will play.”
The organizer of the match, the company Riyadh Season, in the end, before the match itself, did not allow the players to go out on the field in “controversial” shirts and to display a banner with the message “Peace at home, peace in the world”.
Riyadh Season allowed the singing of the national anthem of Turkey before the match and the display of the country’s flag, as was agreed in the contract.
In the end, we can definitely declare the leaders of Football Association of Turkey and the Istanbul giants, who did not adhere to the agreement, to be the main culprits for the delay.
Apparently, when creating the agreement with the Saudis, the FA of Turkey did not even take into account the date of the match, which fell on the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey. If they had, and if during the contract negotiations with the Saudis they had asked for the players to come out on the field in T-shirts and with a message, in the worst case, the Saudis would have rejected them, and in the end the Turks would have played the Super Cup match of their country at a different location.
Now we have to wait for the new date of the Super Cup final to be determined, and after everything, the Turks will have to return the 40 million dollars to the Saudis, which they paid them for this match to be played in Riyadh, Klix.ba writes.
photo ©️ Fenerbahcefootball.com
