Faruk Koca, former president of the Ankaragücü football club, has been handed a suspended prison sentence for physically assaulting a referee during a match last season in Süper Lig, Turkey’s top-tier football competition.
Koca had entered the field after his team’s match with Çaykur Rizespor and punched referee Halil Umut Meler, breaking his nose.
The December 2023 match ended in a 1-1 draw after a late equalizer from the away team. Ankaragücü, which had the lead nearly the entire game following an early goal, received a red card in the 50th minute. At the end of the season, the Ankara outfit was relegated to the 1. Lig.
In today’s hearing, the Ankara Western 3rd Penal Court of First Instance convicted Koca of three separate charges, resulting in a combined sentence of four years and seven months, though he will not serve time due to suspended sentencing. It issued Koca a three-year, seven-month sentence for “deliberate injury causing bone fracture” related to his attack on Meler in his official capacity as a referee. Additionally, Koca received a six-month term for “threatening behavior” and five months for violating Turkey’s law on preventing violence and disorder in sports, though both of these were also suspended.
Neither Meler nor the four defendants, including Koca, Kenan Çelikkaya, Şahin Yunus Şahin, and Osman Erkam Can, attended the trial. However, their attorneys were present, with the defense arguing that their clients were provoked and seeking acquittals.
Meler’s attorney dismissed these claims and called for harsher penalties, stating that the defendants’ previous statements aimed to evade accountability.
The court also sentenced the other three defendants to prison terms ranging from 15 months to over five years. (VK)
