President Fenerbahce: ‘We will be relegated to the lowest category if necessary’

Its president, Ali Kots, described “fully organized” the attacks that his team footballers received at its headquarters and left open the possibility of the team in a lower category if the team’s general meeting decides to leave the “great” category. Speaking in Turkey, Ali Kots put against sports authorities and the referee of the Fenerbahce match with Trumpzonspor, stressing that “we will not tolerate this treatment in our country” and showed determination to accept the team’s relegation to a lower category, if a decision is made to leave Turkish SuperLig. “There are people who have been working hard for 13-14 years in order to sow the seeds of violence and hatred between the two clubs. Last night’s victim is Fenerbachse. They are the Fenerbahce footballers who were protected from lynching and physical assault,” he initially said. And then he asked: “What if a footballer received lynching? Would we say again this must be the last time? We always say it, but it doesn’t happen, especially when it comes to Fenerbachse. Yesterday’s attacks were fully organized. The race began and events gradually escalated. It was not possible to continue this game. If these had happened in a UEFA game, Trumpzonspor’s license would have been revoked. Khalil Umut Meller (ed. referee of the race) could not stop the race and this is the fault of the football environment in which our country is located. You know the power of our opponent, political and bureaucratic power. The main reason not to interrupt this struggle was the federation. I just resigned from the presidency of the Football Association. As Fenerbachse, we must plan our future. I particularly ask our community to act wisely. We will not tolerate this treatment in our country. We will be relegated to the lowest category if necessary.”