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Trabzonspor president attacks refereeing before Gençlerbirliği match: ‘Turkish football has run out of patience’

From Cumhuriyet · () Turkish

Translated from Turkish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Press release Official statement Context piece
  • Trabzonspor president Ertuğrul Doğan criticized refereeing standards before the team’s match against Gençlerbirliği.
  • The club said disputed decisions in matches against Kasımpaşa, Başakşehir and Amedspor went beyond ordinary mistakes and were not corrected by VAR.
  • Trabzonspor called for referees and VAR officials with stronger training and said it would not accept decisions that overshadowed the team’s efforts.

Trabzonspor president Ertuğrul Doğan has delivered a sharp warning to Turkish football’s refereeing authorities before the club’s match against Gençlerbirliği.

In a statement issued by the club, Trabzonspor said years had passed, teams and investments had changed, and VAR technology had arrived, but one thing remained constant: refereeing errors. The club said the issue had again become one of Turkish football’s main talking points even though the season had only just begun.

Turkish football has run out of patience.

· Ertuğrul DoğanThe Trabzonspor president condemned the state of refereeing before the Gençlerbirliği match.

Trabzonspor pointed to critical decisions against the team in matches with Kasımpaşa, Başakşehir and Amedspor. It said those decisions had moved far beyond what could be explained as ordinary “mistakes.” According to the statement, VAR failed to correct wrong calls, stayed silent when intervention was needed, and applied basic football rules differently from one match to another.

The club acknowledged the efforts of Turkish Football Federation president İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu to improve refereeing. But it said the continued inadequacy of the current referee pool showed that the problem was structural.

We only want justice.

· Ertuğrul DoğanTrabzonspor described its demand after criticizing disputed decisions and VAR interventions.

Trabzonspor said it had important goals this season and would not remain silent if the team’s work was overshadowed by unacceptable decisions. “We only want justice,” the statement said. It called for referees trained to European standards, physically and mentally prepared, able to make correct decisions under pressure and fully familiar with the rules. VAR officials, it added, should apply the rules completely and correct clear on-field errors when necessary.

Ahead of the Gençlerbirliği match, the club said it did not want refereeing that took attention away from the players, affected the result or raised questions about concentration and confidence. It ended with a direct appeal: “Change your approach. Do not stand in the way of hard work.”

Change your approach. Do not stand in the way of hard work.

· Ertuğrul DoğanThe club’s statement addressed referees directly before the match.
About this summary

Originally published by Cumhuriyet in Turkish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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