April 7 – Turkey’s top division and domestic cup matches have been suspended for one week following a chilling and unprovoked gun attack on the Fenerbahce team bus at the weekend which left the driver seriously injured but the players unharmed.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a staunch a supporter of the Istanbul club and the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced the decision after a meeting with sports authorities.
“We believe the incident was a terrorist attack, targeting not only Fenerbahce but Turkish sports,” said TFF chairman Yildirim Demiroren. “We decided to postpone all league and cup games for a week.”
The reigning champions were travelling to Trabzon airport following a 5-1 win over Caykur Rizespor when the shooting happened. The driver was taken to hospital but no players were injured.
The attack was the latest episode in a spate of incidents involving Fenerbahce who were banned from playing in Europe for two years in 2013 because of match-fixing. This time they were very much the victims and striker Emmanuel Emenike said he and his team-mates had been left stunned.
“When we saw blood and the shattered driver’s side window, it quickly turned into a scary moment for everyone on the bus,” he told the BBC.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but in a statement before the suspension of games was imposed Fenerbahce said: “This is a point where football comes to an end since blood has been spilled.”
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