Turkish Super Cup final chaos: Why Fenerbahce staged protest after two minutes against arch-rivals Galatasaray

Turkish giants Fenerbahce faced off against their Istanbul rivals Galatasaray in the Turkish Super Cup final - but left the field after just two minutes of action as part of a bizarre series of events. The clash which took place on Sunday 7 April was originally set to be staged in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 29 December 2023, but it was called off because of a disagreement between the two clubs and the host nation’s authorities.

Goal understands that the Turkish Football Federation wanted fans to bring in banners in memory of national team icon Mustafa Kemal Atarturk but were not allowed by the Saudi authorities. Fenerbahce had made a request for the rescheduled match to be postponed to give them sufficient time to prepare for their Europa League quarter-final clash with Olympiakos on Thursday. However, this request was turned down by the Football Authorities.

In protest, Fenerbahce opted to play their Under-19 side for the historic cup final against bitter Istanbul rivals Galatasaray.  Fenerbahce found themselves a goal down, after just 48 seconds with Mauro Icardi scoring for Galatasaray, and the game would subsequently be called-off just a minute later when the entire Fenerbahce team chose to leave the field.

As a result, Galatasaray celebrated a record-breaking 17th Turkish Super Cup victory. The current league-leaders then played a friendly match against their own reserve team so that the fans who attended the final at least got their money’s worth.

This is the second time this season that Fenerbahce have grabbed the headlines in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Fenerbahce members voted on whether the club would withdraw from the Super Lig entirely after their players were attacked by Trabzonspor fans in March, but members recently voted against the proposal.

Despite the unrest, both on and off the pitch, Fenerbahce remain in contention for the league-title and are currently on a six-match winning streak, leaving them just two points behind Galatasaray with five games to spare. The two rivals are scheduled to meet again in the penultimate game of the Turkish season on Sunday 19 March.