Faruk Koca, president of Turkish football club Ankaragücü, has announced his resignation following his arrest for punching a referee at the end of a match on Monday evening, the NTV news website reported.
Koca, 59, a former Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker, knocked referee Halil Umut Meler to the ground with a vicious punch to the face on the pitch following a 1-1 draw with Rizespor, leaving the official with a black eye.
Koca was arrested on Tuesday along with two other men who took part in the attack.
Koca’s lawyer, Murat Bayramoğlu, on Tuesday evening read out a statement from him in front of Ankara’s Sincan Prison, where Koca is being held.
In his statement Koca, who won a fair play award in November 2022, apologized to Meler, his family and football fans while announcing his resignation as the president of Ankaragücü.
“Nothing can legitimize or explain the violence I committed,” he said. “Sports fields should be the venue for gentlemanly competition. Any attitude that casts a shadow on fair play, including my own, should not be present in stadiums.”
He was replaced by his deputy, İsmail Mert Fırat.
Koca and the two others who kicked the referee were arrested on charges of “injuring and threatening a public official” as part of an investigation launched by the Ankara West Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The incident, which sparked outrage, led to the suspension of the Turkish Super Lig by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) until December 19.
Meanwhile, Meler, who had been kept under observation due to some bleeding around his left eye and a fracture from the impact of the punch, was released from the hospital on Wednesday.
Media reports said he refused to accept visitors from Ankaragücü during his stay at the hospital and reportedly told his friends he was planning to quit as a referee.
He was visited by Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya and received a phone call from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan while in the hospital.
Erdoğan, who is known to have close ties to Koca, condemned the incident in a message on the X social media platform on Monday night. But there are claims that Koca’s close links to Erdoğan and his government may help him to go unpunished after the public outrage dies down.
Meler did not make any statement to the media following his discharge from the hospital.
The referee, who spoke to police at the hospital, said Koca threatened to “finish him and the other referees on the pitch off” and said, “I will kill you,” in reference to Meler.
Following the incident, the AKP referred Koca, who was also among the co-founders of the party, to its disciplinary board, demanding his dismissal from the party. The party’s Central Executive Board (MYK) decided to eject him from the party later on Tuesday.
