Fenerbahçe head coach Ismail Kartal announced his resignation Thursday after his side drew 1-1 with Roma in their Champions League opener, but the club president said shortly afterward that he remained in charge.

The match ended 18 years of Fenerbahçe's absence from Europe's top-tier competition.

"I am resigning from my position as of this evening," Kartal said at a post-match press conference. "I have made this decision to clear the way for my club."

"I have resigned from my post while there is still time, so that I can help my beloved Fenerbahçe, my players and the coaches who will come after me," said the 65-year-old, adding that he was leaving "never ​to ⁠return."

Shortly afterward, however, Fenerbahçe President Aziz Yıldırım insisted that the coach would remain in his position.

"Ismail Kartal remains in charge. But the entire Fenerbahçe community should stand behind the coach," Yıldırım told reporters.

He attributed the coach's emotional state partly to an incident during the match.

"They threw a bottle at Ismail Kartal's head tonight. That's why he is upset. That's the reason," Yıldırım said.

"As long as I am here, Ismail Kartal is the head coach. He cannot leave until I leave."

Asked if Kartal had told him that he would stay, he said: "There's no need for him to say (openly) that he'd continue. I am his elder. I told him to continue and that's ⁠it. We are a family."

Yıldırım also defended the coach and the team's progress in Europe, saying Fenerbahçe had achieved their objective of qualifying for the Champions League with Kartal at the helm.

"We said we would qualify for the Champions League, and we did. Who did we do it with? Ismail Kartal," he said.

Kartal said Fenerbahçe could have won Thursday's game.

"We had very clear chances, but in the end the first match ended in a draw," he said.

Roma took the lead on Bryan Cristante's low shot from outside the box in the 39th minute.

Fenerbahçe left back Archie Brown moved into a center forward position and looked like a natural striker as he flicked the ball over the goalkeeper to level the score in the 48th.

Nathan Ake headed against the bar late on with a chance to win the game for Fenerbahçe.

Yıldırım urged supporters to remain patient and criticized what he described as a tendency to question the coach and management.

"Everyone will remain calm. Everyone will wait," Yıldırım said.

He also defended the club's transfer policy, saying the board was trying to sign players requested by Kartal while considering the financial impact on the club.

"I could spend 200 million [on] a footballer, but nobody discusses what damage that would do to the club," he said.

During the summer transfer window, Fenerhaçe signed several high-profile names, including Mason Greenwood, Ake, Romelu Lukaku and Vedat Muriqi.

Greenwood was signed from Marseille for a reported 39 million euros ($45.27 million), while Muriqi returned to the club from RCD Mallorca for 15.5 million euros. Ake was acquired from Manchester City for roughly 8.1 million euros, while Lukaku joined from Napoli for 6 million euros.

Their last signing was young Ghanaian defender Kojo Peprah Oppong, who arrived from OGC Nice for a reported 12 million euros.

Yıldırım criticized the pressure surrounding the club, saying Fenerbahçe's players and staff were being affected by expectations and social media criticism.

"Everyone is under stress," he said. "They are affected by this."

Kartal, who spent a decade at Fenerbahçe as a player, coached the club in ​2014-15, then on an interim basis in 2021-22 before ​returning for a full campaign in 2023-24.

He was assistant manager at Fenerbahçe ⁠the ‌last ‌two times the club won the ⁠Süper Lig and returned ‌for a fourth managerial spell in June.

Fenerbahçe have finished ​second in the Turkish ⁠top flight in the last five ⁠seasons and reached the league phase of ⁠the Champions ​League this season for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign.