{"id":299972,"date":"2023-12-12T18:28:29","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T18:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/?p=299972"},"modified":"2023-12-12T18:28:29","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T18:28:29","slug":"turkish-football-chief-that-punched-ref-and-sent-official-to-hospital-resigns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/turkish-football-chief-that-punched-ref-and-sent-official-to-hospital-resigns\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkish football chief that punched ref and sent official to hospital resigns"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>&#039;Attack on referee was inhumane&#039; &#8211; Turkish Football Federation president<\/h3>\n<p>Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca has announced his resignation after punching referee Halil Umut Meler following his side&#8217;s 1-1 draw with Rizespor in the Turkish Super Lig on Monday. Koca was caught on camera throwing a punch at Umut Meler on the pitch, which sent the official to the floor and sparked a mass brawl.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said Koca and two others were formally arrested for &#8220;injuring a public official&#8221; as Umut Meler was sent to the hospital after being struck. He could be seen sporting a black eye once security had calmed the situation down.<\/p>\n<p>Turkish league football has since been suspended as there has been widespread condemnation of the attack, with Koca confirming his resignation from the club on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I would like to announce to the public that I have resigned from the MKE Ankaragucu Presidency in order to prevent any further harm to the Ankaragucu club, Ankaragucu fans, the community I am in and my family,&#8221; Koca wrote in a statement on the club&#8217;s website.<\/p>\n<p> <strong> MUST READ: <\/strong> <strong>Barton hits back at &#8216;clueless&#8217; Alex Scott after Lionesses icon&#8217;s BBC message<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/590x\/secondary\/Turkey-referee-football-punch-Ankaragucu-5111936.jpg?r=1702402842836\"><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I hope that this incident, which I, more than anyone else, cannot accept, will be a reason for our sports life, especially our football community, to be purified from mistakes, shortcomings and the culture of violence.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;At the same time, I hope that the structural problems of Turkish football will be discussed more realistically due to this grave incident that I caused. I would like to take this opportunity to apologize again to everyone I have upset, especially Ankaragucu fans.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> <svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"> <g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_1078_5986)\"> <\/g> <defs> <clipPath> <rect width=\"23.4329\" height=\"23.4329\" fill=\"white\" transform=\"translate(0 0.134262)\"\/> <\/clipPath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Support fearless journalism<\/li>\n<li> <svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"> <g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_1078_5986)\"> <\/g> <defs> <clipPath> <rect width=\"23.4329\" height=\"23.4329\" fill=\"white\" transform=\"translate(0 0.134262)\"\/> <\/clipPath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Read The Daily Express online, advert free<\/li>\n<li> <svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"> <g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_1078_5986)\"> <\/g> <defs> <clipPath> <rect width=\"23.4329\" height=\"23.4329\" fill=\"white\" transform=\"translate(0 0.134262)\"\/> <\/clipPath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Get super-fast page loading<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/logo\/logo-premium-subscription.png\"><\/p>\n<p> <strong> Don&#8217;t miss&#8230; <\/strong> <br \/> <strong>Alisha Lehmann&#8217;s &#8216;wet-look&#8217; kit changed as Aston Villa receive new shirts[LATEST] <\/strong> <br \/> <strong>Leeds&#8217; 49ers owners gearing up for transfer battle with Bournemouth&#8217;s Bill Foley[TRANSFERS] <\/strong> <br \/> <strong>Man Utd &#8216;put five players up for sale&#8217; as ruthless Erik ten Hag starts clear-out[GOSSIP] <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/590x\/secondary\/Faruk-Koca-resign-Turkey-ref-punch-5111952.jpg?r=1702402842896\"><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I would like it to be known that I am deeply saddened that both the club I manage, the football community, and our country are remembered with such an event and image.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ankaragucu had been frustrated with the referee after initially sending off their player shortly after half-time, before conceding a 97th-minute equaliser to spark furious scenes inside the stadium &#8211; leading to Umut Meler being struck by Koca after the president ran onto the pitch at full-time.<\/p>\n<p>Umut Meler laid on the floor in an attempt to protect himself from more injuries, before being taken to hospital when he was informed that he had suffered a small facial fracture, but had no brain damage and is likely to be discharged on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/football\/1844833\/Turkey-football-referee-punch-Ankaragucu-resign\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#039;Attack on referee was inhumane&#039; &#8211; Turkish Football Federation president Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca has announced his resignation after punching referee Halil Umut Meler following his side&#8217;s 1-1 draw with Rizespor in the Turkish Super Lig on Monday. Koca was caught on&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Turkish football chief that punched ref and sent official to hospital resigns - Sports-Life-News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/turkish-football-chief-that-punched-ref-and-sent-official-to-hospital-resigns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Turkish football chief that punched ref and sent official to hospital resigns - Sports-Life-News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&#039;Attack on referee was inhumane&#039; &#8211; Turkish Football Federation president Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca has announced his resignation after punching referee Halil Umut Meler following his side&#8217;s 1-1 draw with Rizespor in the Turkish Super Lig on Monday. 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