Turkey’s Super Cup in Saudi Arabia canceled over reported Ataturk row

ANKARA — The Super Cup final between Turkey’s Galatasaray and Fenerbahce scheduled to be played in Riyadh on Friday was canceled after Saudi authorities reportedly refused to allow posters of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of secularist modern Turkey, and banners featuring his dictums in the stadium.

In protest, both leading Istanbul teams refused to take the pitch and began preparing to return home, Turkey’s public broadcaster, TRT, reported. There was no immediate official statement either from the clubs or Turkey’s Football Federation.

There were no immediate comments from the clubs or from the Turkish Football Federation.

The tensions involving the Saudi authorities, the Turkish Football Federation and the teams surfaced earlier on Friday, when Fenerbahce President Ali Koc announced to the press that Saudi authorities were not permitting fans to open a banner reading, “Peace at home, peace in the world,” one of Ataturk’s famous sayings.

“As far as I understand, the authorities did not accept it,” he said. “We are trying to solve the problem.”

Koc’s remarks quickly caused a storm on social media, with thousands of Turkish users calling on teams to return to Turkey, canceling the game. 

Minutes before the match, which was set to begin at 8:45 p.m. Turkey time, Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and other prominent Turkish soccer clubs shared Ataturk pictures on their social media accounts. The teams did not appear at the stadium at game time and were in preparation to leave Saudi Arabia, Turkish media reported. Saudi authorities deployed police officers to the locker room to check if their uniforms bore Ataturk’s image.

A meeting between Koc, Galatasaray President Dursun Ozbek and football federation head Mehmet Buyukeksi as well as intense contacts with Saudi authorities failed to resolve the impasse. 

Turkey’s already beleaguered football federation, facing growing allegations of match-fixing and cronyism, had also come under intense criticism for its decision to organize the game in the Saudi capital during the centennial of the modern Turkish republic. 

“FB-GS Super Cup should have been played in Samsun 19 Mayıs stadium in the country’s 100th year,” Sinan Ulgen, former diplomat and senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, posted on X, in reference to Turkey’s Black Sea coastal province where Ataturk kicked off Turkey’s fight for independence after World War I. “Preference to play abroad, let alone in Saudi Arabia, is a big mistake in such a year.”

This breaking story and has been updated since first publication.