Drawing attention to the fact that Dynamo Kiev provoked the yellow and dark blue stands after the goal scored in the Fenerbahce match, Fenerbahce Club announced that, whatever the reason, they did not accept the cheers in favor of Russian President Vladimir Putin from the stands.
In a statement made by Fenerbahçe Club, it was said, “It is not a fair and equitable approach to attribute this rhetoric, which never represents the stance and values of our club, to all our fans and to attribute responsibility to our club.”
On the other hand, Fenerbahçe Club also criticized the political grounding of the discussions and said, “We condemn both our country and our club being implicated on this issue, trying to set the agenda in a way that will cause misunderstanding, and linking the issue with politics.”
The statement made by Fenerbahçe Club regarding the ‘Vladimir Putin’ chants of Fenerbahçe fans is as follows:
“In the Dynamo Kyiv match played in our field in the 2nd qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, after the opponent team’s goal, it was heard from a part of the stands; We are making this statement against a discourse that does not represent our club and does not reflect our club’s corporate stance in any way. As Fenerbahçe Sports Club, we always take care to raise awareness on social and humanitarian issues both in our country and in the world with our sphere of influence; We see it as a responsibility.”
“Our club was the first club to react to this process on February 24, 2022, the beginning of the war process. We would like to emphasize once again our message that we have conveyed through all our official channels: War; It’s not bravery, it’s cowardice! #No war”
In addition, one of the biggest examples of this sensitivity is; The friendly match we played with Shakhtar Donetsk on our field in April, by saying “Football for Peace” in order to draw attention to peace in Ukraine and to contribute materially and spiritually, and we hosted the Shaktar Donetsk team in our country for days on end. As Fenerbahçe Sports Club, our stance on this issue and our attitude from the first day of the process is known to the whole public.”
Putin cheer lasted 20 seconds
“In the 58th minute of yesterday’s match, the exaggerated movements of some players of the opposing team, especially the reserve goalkeepers who played for a team in our country in the past, caused a part of the stands to get excited and a reaction that lasted only 20 seconds in the 120-minute match.”
“Whatever the reason may be, we, as Fenerbahçe Sports Club, do not accept the reaction that arises from some of our stands. It is not a fair and equitable approach to attribute this rhetoric, which never represents the stance and values of our club, to all our fans and to attribute responsibility to our club.”
Putin chants should not be associated with politics
“At the point we have reached; We condemn both our country and our club being implicated on this issue, trying to set an agenda in a way that will cause misunderstanding, and linking the issue with politics. On the occasion of this agenda, as Fenerbahçe Sports Club, we once again remind the public of our stance that sports and politics should always be kept separate from each other.”
