Earlier this week, Hull City owner Acun Ilıcalı spoke to the Turkish media to discuss the Tigers’ dream of returning to the Premier League and the two Süper Lig players he would like to sign for the Championship side in the summer.
It’s no secret the Turkish businessman is a huge Fenerbahçe fan and is also a Fenerbahçe Congress Member.
On Tuesday, the Hull City chairman attended the Yellow Canaries’ general assembly and also took to the stage to share his feelings on the state of referees in Turkish football. His quotes are relayed by Hürriyet.
Before the last international break, Fenerbahçe sealed a 3-2 win over Trabzonspor, and there was a clash between the players of the two clubs at the end of the tie, after Trabzonspor supporters invaded the pitch.
Halil Umut Meler was the referee and Ilıcalı feels these incidents could have been avoided by the match official.
“In the Trabzonspor match, that day provocateurs jumped on the pitch and made a brutal attack on our team. But before that, if there was a referee there, he could have cancelled the match in the 60th minute and provided us with the security we deserved and our right not to be in that environment,” he said.
“Everyone there knew there would be an incident. The moment a flame is thrown on the pitch, the referee turns to the flame and does not see the foul. There is smoke and he doesn’t see the foul, at that moment there is a foul, he makes up the foul. Then we concede a goal. Can a referee jeopardise the safety of the players so much? Can a referee who has a football background somehow put a whole team in danger of being lynched?”
The Hull City owner has also used Galatasaray’s 2-1 win over Antalyaspor in February as another example to help its criticism of Turkish match officials.
“There are refereeing mistakes in the Galatasaray-Antalyaspor match. There may be, but things get strange when you look at Hugh Dallas’ speeches,” Ilıcalı explained.
“He asks ‘what did you see on the pitch’ and the referee says ‘I didn’t see anything’. He asks the referee in VAR, ‘What did you see?’ The referee’s answer is ‘I don’t know what state of mind I was in’. What state of mind was the referee in? Will a referee’s state of mind determine the fate of Turkish football? We don’t know what he was thinking. If these two referees had said we stand by our decision for this position. There was no problem for me.”
Ilıcalı has urged the Turkish football association to consider bringing in foreign referees to improve football in the country.
“From this moment on, I don’t trust Turkish referees. I think we should support the urgent start of the practice of foreign referees and support them to the end,” the Hull City chairman added.
“I don’t accept that our rights will be defeated. A referee’s mood cannot make millions of people unhappy. Maybe we are 30 thousand people here today, but we represent 30 million. A referee cannot make millions of fans unhappy with his ridiculous decisions.”
Hull City are currently 10th in the Championship table with 58 points, trailing sixth placed Norwich City by six points, with a game in hand.
Should Ilıcalı have a similar rant about officiating in the Championship then he’d likely be set for a fine.
