Scheduled for Riyadh in Saudi Arabia this Friday at 6:45 p.m., the Turkish Super Cup was canceled at the last minute. The reason ? The fault lies in a refusal by local authorities to authorize the wearing of jerseys paying homage to Atatürk, the first president of the Republic of Turkey.
A small blow for Saudi Arabia which hosted the Turkish Super Cup for the first time. This was canceled after players from Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray refused to leave their hotels.
🚨🇹🇷 BREAKING! The Turkish Super Cup final scheduled for tonight at 6:45 p.m. is ́!
Both Galatasaray and Fenerbahce refuse to play without ‘Atatürk’ on their jerseys tonight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦.
An inscription referring to… pic.twitter.com/tSe7jQG3uw
— Actu Foot (@ActuFoot_) December 29, 2023
Scheduled for Riyadh this Friday, it had become a subject of political controversy. Local authorities initially refused to allow supporters to bring Turkish flags. A ban that Turkish authorities subsequently managed to lift, unlike the one targeting clothing bearing the image of Atatürk.
The players had to wear jerseys bearing his image to celebrate the centenary of the Republic that he established. For geopolitical considerations, the Saudi government did not allow it, forcing the presidents of the two clubs to negotiate throughout the day.
They will therefore never have succeeded. The two teams therefore never made it there as the stadium began to fill up little by little…
