By Andrew Warshaw
September 27 – Already thrown out of this season’s Europa League by UEFA over match-fixing, Besiktas have now been ordered by the Turkish football authorities to play four games behind closed doors as a result of the violence which caused last weekend’s Istanbul derby against bitter rivals Galatasaray to be abandoned.
Beşiktaş coach Slaven Bilic, the former Croatian national team coach, has also been hit with a three-game touchline ban for his outburst towards the officials.
Beşiktaş fans invaded the pitch in stoppage time with Galatasaray leading 2-1. The referee was forced to take both sets of players off the field and abandoned the match. Known as the Black Eagles, Besiktas had won all four of previous league matches and were chasing a fifth in front of a record 76,000 crowd.
“We are very saddened to see the match end this way and these ugly pictures aired not only in Turkey but also in Europe and on international TV channels,” Galatasaray Deputy Chairman Özkan Olcay had said after the match.
In addition to the ban, Beşiktaş were ordered to pay TL 70,000 (25,000 euros) for violating security rules by failing to have enough security guards at the stadium and also for allowing too many fans into the ground.
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