The Turkish Super Cup match between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce was postponed after Saudi Arabia did not allow Ataturk shirts and banners at the match, a decision that was widely reported in the world press.
The famous L’Equipe writes that both clubs refused to play at the last minute and that this is an unprecedented shame for both nations.
“The Turkish Super Cup, which was planned to be played in Riyadh, was canceled at the last minute. The reason is that the local authorities did not allow the wearing of T-shirts with the image of Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey. The local authorities initially did not allow fans to bring the Turkish flag. The Turkish authorities then reacted and the ban was lifted, but the ban on wearing shirts with Ataturk’s image was not lifted. Further negotiations failed, and the two teams refused to play just as the stadium began to fill up,” the French newspaper writes.
The other media also did not spare the Saudis, and especially the Turks, accusing them of going from scandal to scandal.
“Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe refused to play the match after the Saudi government did not allow the wearing of shirts in honor of the founder of the Republic of Turkey. Chaos in the Super Cup is the peak of scandalous events in Turkish football,” says the Spanish Ace.
“The match between Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe in Saudi Arabia has been postponed to a later date due to political problems. This decision was made even though there was little time left until the start of the match,” according to Italian Sky Sport.
“A scandalous incident took place in the Turkish Super Cup. The refusal of Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe to play the game has caused a new scandal in Turkish football. The match that was planned to be played at Awwal Park, where Ronaldo played, was canceled due to the refusal of both clubs,” reports Marca.
“Diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The Super Cup match between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce has been postponed after disagreements with the Saudi authorities,” writes Italian Sportmediaset.
And the English media report that the Saudis rejected the Turks’ proposal.
“The Super Cup final was canceled because the Saudi Arabian authorities refused Galatasaray and Fenerbahce’s request to pay tribute to Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey,” writes The Mirror.
“An unprecedented diplomatic crisis. The crisis arose when the local authorities prevented banners and T-shirts mentioning Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey, from being brought into the stadium,” according to other island media.
French FootMercato reports that there have even been arrests of fans.
“After the harsh reaction of the Saudi authorities, the police went so far as to arrest every fan with Atatürk’s picture,” said the source.
As stated in the joint statement of the clubs, the match will be played at a later date, and for now it is not known when that could happen, Klix.ba writes.
