Throwing a punch at the referee, the Club President in Türkiye was arrested

(Dan Tri) – President of MKE Ankaragucu Club, Faruk Koca was arrested by authorities in Türkiye after he rushed into the field and punched the referee on December 12.

The incident shocked world football after the 1-1 draw between Ankaragucu Club and Rizespor in the Turkish Super Lig tournament.

Midfielder Olimpiu Morutan broke the deadlock for the home team after only 14 minutes.

The match was extremely dramatic when the referee had to give two red cards to each team’s players.

Referee Halil Umut Meler received a heavy punch from Ankaragucu Club president Faruk Koca (Photo: Getty).

Referee Meler was also repeatedly kicked by a member of the Ankaragucu Club while lying on the field (Photo: Getty).

Referee Meler was escorted off the field with a bruised right eye after Mr. Koca’s punch (Photo: Getty).

As soon as referee Meler collapsed on the field, he was repeatedly kicked by another member of the Ankaragucu Club, forcing the referee born in 1986 to use his hand to protect his face from vicious kicks.

It took a while for referee Meler to be escorted off the field by security forces with his right eye bruised after a punch from president Faruk Koca.

Referee Meler was then transferred to the hospital for treatment, with part of his neck fixed in a brace.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan personally visited referee Meler in the hospital and strongly condemned the shameful incident caused by President Faruk Koca.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited referee Meler in the hospital (Photo: AliYerlikaya).

On the evening of December 12, Turkish Minister of Justice Yilmaz Tunc announced that authorities had arrested Ankaragucu Club President Faruk Koca.

With this arrest, along with support from President Erdogan, Mr. Faruk Koca may be prosecuted and subject to very heavy penalties.

`We do not want to see these images on our field, images that are not consistent with the spirit of Turkish sports and football,` Minister Yilmaz Tunc said.

Notably, Mr. Koca was interviewed by Demiroren News Agency about the reason for punching the referee after the above incident.

But at that time I punched the referee in the face.

Koca, 59 years old, has been President of Ankaragucu since 2021 and was awarded manager of the month at Fair Play last October.