Fenerbahçe President Resigns: "We Would Rather Be Relegated"

Following a large-scale stadium violence incident during a Turkish Super Lig match on March 17th, Fenerbahçe President Ali Koç announced his resignation at a meeting held today.

Ali Koç delivered a speech stating: "I have just resigned from my position at the club. From now on, I will sever my ties with the club. If necessary, we will relegate to a lower league. We would rather die today than die every day. If needed, we will play for a year and then leave."

"I won't speak for too long, as this is a disgrace for Turkish football. Some people have incited mutual hostility between these two clubs and sown the seeds."

"The biggest victims of these events are Fenerbahçe and its fans, and things have now spiraled out of control. None of our country's football authorities have taken any action against Fenerbahçe. The specifics of the attack are still unknown; what if something happens to our players? What if footballers are subjected to mob justice by fans? We want to say this is the last time; it has now reached the point of legitimizing violence. Don't look at yesterday's events from a football perspective. I don't know if the organization behind the attack is related to football, but yesterday's events were organized."

The incident originated when Trabzonspor fans stormed the field after their team was defeated, attacking Fenerbahçe players, with some fans even carrying folding knives, seriously endangering the players' safety.