The Fenerbahce fans sang Putin’s name amidst ongoing tensions between Ukraine and Russia.
After falling behind Dynamo Kyiv, the situation became nasty when Fenerbahce supporters began yelling out Vladimir Putin’s name at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul.
In a Champions League qualifying match between Fenerbahce and Dynamo Kyiv, the Ukrainian team won 2-1 over the hosts in extra time to advance to the group stage of the European elite club competition.
Ismail Yuksek was dismissed, and Vitaliy Buyalskyi shortly scored the game’s first goal. In the final seconds of regulation time, Attila Szalai equalized, but Oleksandr Karavayev’s goal in the 114th minute kept Dynamo’s hopes of qualifying for the 2022-2023 UEFA Champions League alive.
What happened following Vitaliy Buyalskyi’s first goal?
Buyalskiy walked to the Fenerbahce section after scoring the goal and attempted to rile up the supporters.
The followers became enraged by this and began yelling in Putin’s favor.
Fenerbahçe taraftarı, Ukrayna Takımı Dinamo Kiev’in golünü atan Buyalski’nin tribünlere yaptığı hareket sonrası Putin tezahüratları söyledi.
— ibrahim Haskoloğlu (@haskologlu) July 27, 2022
pic.twitter.com/D3QqtFM1VG
For a moment, there was more jubilation as more supporters expressed their support for Ukraine.
Coach Mircea Lucescu of Dynamo Kyiv protested by declining to attend the press conference after the game.
Will Fenerbahce receive a penalty?
UEFA has acknowledged that it would launch an inquiry into the incident, although it is yet unclear whether Fener will face fines as a result of the behavior of some of its supporters.
A disciplinary investigation into alleged misbehavior by Fenerbahçe fans during the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round, second leg match between Fenerbahçe SK and FC Dynamo Kyiv played on July 27, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey, will be conducted by a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector, according to a statement from the organization that governs European football.
The team, in the meantime, has released a statement claiming that it does not endorse or condone the shouts, citing its support of Ukraine since the crisis began and a friendly match against Shakhtar Donetsk that was played to foster peace.
“In the Dynamo Kyiv match played in our field in the UEFA Champions League 2nd qualifying round, after the opposing team’s goal, a chant was heard from a part of the stands,” the club statement read. “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 this 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! #Nowar.”
For Fenerbahce, what comes next?
After being eliminated from the Champions League qualifiers, they will attempt to secure a spot in the Europa League.
On August 4, they will face off against Slovacko of the Czech Republic at home in the first leg of the match.
