There was drama in the UEFA Conference League match between Besiktas and Swiss Lugano in Istanbul when President of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) Mehmet Büyükekşi was forced to leave the Tupras stadium by Besiktas fans before the end of the first half.

Büyükekşi had watched the game in the company of Turkey’s Minister of Youth and Sports Osman Aşkın Bak, Besiktas President Ahmet Nur Çebi and other TFF members.

It was gathered that the match started with fans protests targeted at the Besiktas management, calling for their immediate resignations.

The relationship between the Turkish Football Federation and Besiktas has been very strained over the past year. 

This is not the first time that Besiktas fans have demanded the TFF president resign.

After the incident, Büyükekşi said: “I am really sorry. As TFF management, we try to go to the European matches of all our teams. We also came to Besiktas’s match. During the matches organized for the earthquake victims, Mr. Çebi told us, ‘You don’t come to our matches.’ We made a return visit. But we encountered an environment we did not expect. Everyone does what suits them. If what happened was isolated, I would have stayed. But it was an organized event. Mr. Minister also expressed his sadness. We got his approval and left the match.”

Besiktas suffered a dramatic loss at the end of the match. Despite having a two-goal lead, the hosts conceded three goals in the final minutes of the match, losing 3:2.

Vanguard News