Trabzonspor face 6 match fan-ban over pitch invasion

A group of Trabzonspor fans invaded the pitch after the final whistle of the 3-2 home defeat on March 17

Trabzonspor lands into hot waters as the Turkish club has been ordered to play six home matches behind closed doors after violent scenes marred a league game with rivals Fenerbahce last month, the country’s football federation (TFF) said Wednesday.

The TFF’s disciplinary board fined and handed two Fenerbahce players, Dutch defender Jayden Oosterwolde and goalkeeper Irfan Can Egribayat, one-match bans.

Oosterwolde was punished for kicking a Trabzonspor fan who had run onto the pitch with his face covered.

A group of Trabzonspor fans invaded the pitch after the final whistle of the 3-2 home defeat on March 17.

The attacks took place as the Fenerbahce players and coaching staff celebrated their victory, goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic being punched in the face.

The Black Sea team must also pay fines of ₺ 3.1 million ($97,000).

Nigerian international Bright Osayi-Samuel escaped punishment after punching a fan on the pitch.

His actions “did not meet the threshold for a violation of disciplinary rules,” the board said.

FIFA boss Gianni Infantino called the scenes “totally unacceptable.”

It is not the first time violence has affected the Turkish Super Lig this season.

The championship was suspended for a week in December after a referee was attacked during a match between Ankaragucu and Rizespor.

Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca, alongside other men, attacked referee Halil Umut Meler on the pitch after the match, injuring the official.

Several Fenerbahce trips to Trabzon in recent times have also been marred by violence.

A 2016 game against Trabzonspor was abandoned in the closing minutes after a home supporter attacked an assistant referee.

The year before that, the Fenerbahce team bus came under attack by a gunman en route to the airport on the way back from the neighboring Black Sea city of Rize, leaving the driver seriously injured.

In 2014, a match between Trabzonspor and Fenerbahce was called off at half-time after home fans pelted the Istanbul club’s players with objects and threw them onto the pitch.

Trabzonspor, who won the Turkish title two years ago, also found themselves in the spotlight in 2015 when the club president locked the referee and his assistants inside the stadium overnight in protest at the decision not to award his team a penalty.

They were eventually released in the early hours of the following morning after a phone call from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Source: AFP