Galatasaray opened fire on Turkish referees and made a massive rebuke midway through their victory over Fenerbahce amid ongoing tensions with Turkish officials.
Galatasaray unimpressed with referee during Sunday’s win
Galatasaray insist the Turkish referee has “malice in his heart” and will not remain silent on the issue after defeating Fenerbahce, before insisting that “a good referee will win again”.
The Turkish champions extended their lead at the top, but began attacking the officials. The move comes days after it suspended ties with the Turkish Football Federation.
Galatasaray had won 3-0 against their rivals in Istanbul, but at half-time they were leading by only a goal difference when they decided to open fire on the referee after receiving several fouled-up penalty calls.
“Despite the two penalties not being awarded, we end the first half with a 1-0 lead,” he wrote in an update 45 minutes after the start.
The Turkish champion further upped the ante with the following post: “Despite these referees, we still lead 1-0. We understand what you are doing, we understand your plans, we understand the evil within you. This order cannot remain this way. We are here, we will not be silent! In the end, the good guys will win again!”
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Victor Osimhen scored the first goal, with Baris Yilmaz and Lucas Torreira both coming on in the second half. Fenerbahce missed a penalty in the first half and then former Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson was sent off. Galatasaray is seven points behind leaders Fenerbahce with three games remaining.
Issues between Turkish Super Lig clubs and referees have been a hot topic in recent years. Last year, the Turkish Football Federation suspended 149 referees and assistant referees after an investigation found that hundreds of officials in the country had gambling accounts.
Jose Mourinho regularly bemoaned officials during his stay in Türkiye (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
Previously, Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho had always maintained that Turkish referees were not up to standard and needed to be called up. The Special One suggested that he would never have accepted the job in the country if he had known how bad the situation was.
He previously said: “We are not fighting against the other team, we are fighting against the system. And fighting against the system is the most difficult thing. I had heard these stories before coming to Turkey, but honestly I didn’t believe them. But when I actually came here, it was much more serious than I had heard.”
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