November 11 – The former president of Turkey’s Ankaragücü Faruk Koca was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for attacking referee Halil Umut Meler late last year.
Koca (pictured) became embroiled in one of the biggest scandals in Turkish football’s history when, after the end of the match between Ankaragucu and Rizespor, he stormed the pitch and punched the Meler in the face, knocking him out.
Immediately after the incident, the Turkish Football Federation postponed all league matches and Koca was banned from football for life. The Turkish prosecutor’s office opened a criminal case against him for beating the referee.
In addition to injuring Meler, the former president of Ankaragücü threatened to “kill him”.
On Monday, the Turkish court ruled on the case against Faruk Koca and sentenced him to 3 years, 7 months, and 22 days in prison. In addition to this sentence, Koca was given a suspended sentence on two other charges.
Because of the “threat” to the referee, the former president of Ankaragücü was given a suspended sentence of 6 months and 20 days.
For violating the law on the prevention of violence in sports, Koca received a suspended sentence of 5 months in prison.
Contact the writer of this story, Aleksander Krassimirov, at moc.l1732359353labto1732359353ofdlr1732359353owedi1732359353sni@o1732359353fni1732359353