The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced this Wednesday that the different football leagues suspended after the attack on a referee that occurred this week in a Super League (first division) match will resume next Tuesday.
"We have decided to start with the matches on December 19, Tuesday," said TFF president Mehmet Büyükeksi at a press conference in Ankara, after a four-hour meeting with the institution's leadership.
From that day on, the agenda will be the normal one, while the games that should have been played this week will be held on January 10.
The head of the TFF recalled that the Turkish Justice is already acting against the president of the Ankaragücü club, Faruk Koca, in preventive detention since yesterday for having punched referee Halil Umut Meler at the end of the match against Rizespor.
The TFF disciplinary council will decide tomorrow whether, in addition to the legal action against Koca, a sporting penalty will also be imposed on Ankaragücü and its president, Büyükeksi said. The decision to start the league again this Tuesday has been made in consensus with the Federation of Referees, stressed the head of the TFF.
Büyükeksi denied rumors that Meler, 37, could abandon the referee's job and expressed his hope that the referee, who has a FIFA license and experience in UEFA, "will assume duties at Euro 2024 in Germany." .
