Fenerbahçe complains about referee mistakes, backs VAR system


Fenerbahçe Chairman Ali Koç and the club's board members held a press conference Thursday to denounce what they called referee mistakes that have dampened their chances in the Super League.

The press conference, held one day after Central Arbitration Committee board resigned over criticism, was the latest salvo against referees by Turkish clubs, complaining about bias by the league's referees. Displaying the replays of what he said were "referee mistakes" at the press conference, Koç said other teams have suffered as well.

"This is not about a few mistakes. It is a systematic approach to some matches in the past weeks. I don't think these are innocuous mistakes or coincidences." Koç voiced concern that Fenerbahçe may be the "victim of this deliberate approach."

He said the Central Arbitration Committee, the ultimate authority on appointing referees to matches, should be more independent. Koç stated that they supported the continuation of the video assistant referee (VAR) although there have been problems. "They contributed to reduce referee mistakes," he said.