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Referee punched: Turkish FA halts league football after club president hits Super Lig official
Turkish football bosses suspended all leagues after a referee was punched to the ground by a club president following a top-flight game on Monday.
Halil Umut Meler was struck by MKE Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca, who ran on to the pitch after his team conceded a 97th-minute equaliser in a 1-1 Super Lig draw with Caykur Rizespor.
“The matches in all leagues have been postponed indefinitely,” Turkish FA [TFF] chairman Mehmet Buyukeksi told a news conference. “This attack is a night of shame for Turkish football,” he added.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino called the incident “totally unacceptable” and said that violence has “no place in our sport or society”. “Without match officials there is no football,” he said. “Referees, players, fans and staff have to be safe and secure to enjoy the game, and I call on the relevant authorities to ensure that this is strictly implemented and respected at all levels.”
Meler received several blows from others as he lay on the turf and suffered injuries including a minor fracture.
The incident sparked chaotic scenes involving players and club officials.
Koca required treatment in hospital but “detention procedures will be carried out after the treatment”, said Turkey’s minister of internal affairs, Ali Yerlikaya.
Yerlikaya added others had been arrested for their part in the incident, which he “strongly condemned”.
Meler, 37, is one of Turkey’s top referees and officiates international games for Fifa. He is also on Uefa’s elite referee list.
He also required hospital treatment and the chief physician of the hospital where he was treated, Dr Mehmet Yorubulut, said: “There is no life threat for the moment. He only has bleeding around his left eye and a small fracture.
“We will monitor our referee until the morning due to head trauma. We will discharge him from hospital after the necessary examinations in the morning.”
The country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, spoke out after the shocking scenes. “I condemn the attack on referee Halil Umut Meler after the MKE Ankaragucu-Çaykur Rizespor match played this evening, and I wish him a speedy recovery,” he said.
“Sports means peace and brotherhood. Sport is incompatible with violence. We will never allow violence to take place in Turkish sports.”
Home club MKE Ankaragucu expressed regret following their president’s actions, saying in a statement: “We are saddened by the incident that took place this evening.
“We apologise to the Turkish football public and the entire sports community for the sad incident that occurred after the Caykur Rizespor match at Eryaman Stadium.”
Caykur Rizespor sent a message of support to Meler and expressed general dismay, stating: “We strongly condemn the undesirable events that occurred after the Ankaragucu match we played today.
“We convey our wishes to the entire referee community, especially the referee of the match, Halil Umut Meler, to get well soon.”
The TFF chose to take a decisive course of action that it hopes will lead Turkish football to become a safer place.
TFF chairman Buyukeksi added: “Football matches are not a war, there is no death at the end. Not all teams can become champions at the same time. We all need to understand this. We invite everyone to take responsibility.
“Ankaragucu and its managers will be punished most severely.”
He said the penalties will be discussed in the relevant decision-making committees starting on Tuesday.
In a statement on what it called the “inhumane and despicable attack”, the TFF said: “The irresponsible statements of club presidents, managers, coaches and TV commentators targeting referees have paved the way for this vile attack today.
“In coordination with our State, all the criminal proceedings they deserve have begun to be implemented against those responsible and instigators of this inhumane attack. The responsible club, its president, its managers and all criminals who attacked Meler will be punished in the most severe way.”
Galatasaray, one of the country’s biggest teams, had earlier called for an emergency meeting to allow clubs to address what they say is a growing issue in the Turkish game.
“We must all come together today and act to solve the problems we are a part of,” read a Galatasaray statement.
The Association of Active Football Referees and Observers of Turkey called on all referees not to take the fields, adding: “The violent attack on Meler was not only against our referee Halil Umut Meler but also against the entire referee community.”
The Turkish Super Lig Professional Football Clubs Foundation condemned the attack and said clubs were “ready to take all steps to prevent violent incidents”.
(BBC)
Todd Murphy is firming to play his first home Test, after the SCG’s head curator declared the pitch’s green covering would be near-irrelevant come day one.
With administrators still on edge after last week’s two day debacle in Melbourne, an extremely green SCG surface raised eyebrows in Sydney on Thursday.
But chief curator Adam Lewis insisted on Friday that should not be a concern, and he was hopeful Sydney would extend into a fifth day.
“You want to see green tinge three days out,” Lewis said. “If you’re not seeing any live grass three days out, then that’s when it’s a worry, … I’m really comfortable with where we’re sitting.
“We had a little bit of sun this morning. They’re saying a bit more sun tomorrow. That will take the greenness out of the pitch. We’re really happy with the pitches at the moment. We’re looking good.”
Lewis admitted he felt for MCG counterpart Matt Page last week, but said he felt no external pressure to ensure the fifth Test in Sydney went the distance.
It’s estimated that Cricket Australia (CA) has lost in the vicinity of AUD15 million in profits this summer, with the opening Test in Perth also finishing inside two days.
Even Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joked at a function with teams on Thursday night that they had to ensure the game went to day three, in order to support the McGrath Foundation fundraiser.
One of the hardest grounds in the world to bowl on between 2014 and 2023, last year’s SCG Test was over in just two-and-a-half days.
Lewis said that his ground staff would go with 6mm of grass this year compared to 7mm last season, while also reducing its density. That in itself generally acts to flatten out the wicket and produce less movement, while also inviting the chance of spin late in the match.
“We just thought … we could thin our density out a little bit,” Lewis said. “That’s what we’ve done this year. We’ve practised that in the Shield matches and we’ve received very good marks.”
CA CEO Todd Greenberg said he too was confident the SCG Test would last the distance.
“I’ve had more phone calls and conversations about wickets and millimetres of grass than I thought I’d ever have,” Greenberg said. “But I’m hopeful and confident we will have a long and productive Test match here.”
All of which should spell good news for Murphy. Australia’s coaching staff had a prolonged conversation around the pitch on Friday morning, after leaving Murphy out and going with four quicks at the MCG.
Murphy then spent most of Friday’s training session bowling to Australia’s top order, while Alex Carey also had an extended run keeping to him.
With seven Tests to his name overseas, Murphy would be expected to come in for Jhye Richardson if he does play in Sydney.
England have promised to take the attack to Murphy, who played two Tests during the 2023 Ashes were he conceded 4.72 an over.
“Whoever plays, I think that’s the mantra of our team, is to try and put pressure on people,” opener Zak Crawley, said. “Todd’s a very good bowler, but I can envisage us trying to put some pressure on him, like we would all their bowlers.
That’s going to come with some risks, and if it’s turning it’s definitely going to be a threat. But I think we’ll try and put pressure on all their bowlers.”
The other question for Australia will be whether Cameron Green remains in the side, after Beau Webster was spotted fielding in the gully during slips training on Friday. Green has averaged 18.66 with the bat in this series. The SCG was the scene of Webster’s debut a year ago against India.
[Cricinfo]
Palestine was the deadliest place to work as a journalist in 2025, with the Middle East as a whole the most dangerous region for media professionals, according to a global journalist union.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said the region accounted for 74 deaths last year – more than half of the 128 journalists and media workers killed – in a new report released on Wednesday.
The Middle East was followed by Africa with 18 deaths, Asia Pacific (15), the Americas (11) and Europe (10), according to the report. The vast majority of those killed were men, but the list included 10 women.
“128 journalists killed in a single year is not just a statistic; it is a global crisis. These deaths are a brutal reminder that journalists are being targeted with impunity, simply for doing their job,” IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said.
Palestinian journalists were the biggest cohort of victims: 56 Palestinian media professionals were killed in 2025. Yemen followed, with 13 deaths, Ukraine, with eight, and Sudan, with six, according to the IFJ.
The Paris-based media union cited Israel’s killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif as the most “emblematic” of the 56 journalists murdered in Palestine last year covering Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Al-Sharif, 28, was killed on August 10 alongside several colleagues when Israeli forces struck a media tent outside Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital.
The attack also killed Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, Al Jazeera camera operators Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal, freelance camera operator Momen Aliwa and freelance journalist Mohammed al-Khalidi.
IFJ also cited an Israeli strike in early September on a Yemeni newspaper office as “one of the worst-ever attacks on a media office”. Thirteen journalists and media workers at the Houthi-affiliated “26 September” newspaper were killed, along with more than 20 other people.
Another nine deaths were ruled as accidents, while others – including two journalists in Syria and two in Iran – were “targeted and killed” because of their work, IFJ said.
While the Middle East was the deadliest region for the third year in a row in 2025, the Asia Pacific accounted for the largest number of journalists and media workers behind bars. Most cases in 2025 were in China and Hong Kong, which together accounted for 143 journalists, followed by 49 in Myanmar and 37 in Vietnam.
Europe was another detention hotspot last year, accounting for 149 imprisoned journalists. IFJ attributed the figure, up 40 percent from a year earlier, to “intensified repression in Azerbaijan and Russia”.
[Aljazeera]
United States President Donald Trump has said that he will delay the implementation of tariffs on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities for one year, amid growing concerns over cost-of-living issues.
Trump signed an order on Wednesday night, during the New Year’s Eve holiday, pausing a planned 50 percent tariff on cabinets and vanities and a 30 percent tariff on upholstered furniture.
But the order maintained the 25 percent tariff he put in place for those products in September.
The US president had previously described the furniture tariffs as a step to “bolster American industry and protect national security”.
Polls indicate that rising prices and the cost of living are major concerns for people in the US as the country approaches its 2026 midterm elections, scheduled for November.
Voters hold President Trump’s policies, and tariffs in particular, at least partly responsible for their economic woes. A Politico poll released in December found that 30 percent of respondents cited tariffs as the primary reason prices were high, and 32 percent said that Trump bears “full responsibility” for the state of the economy.
A majority of respondents cited the cost of living as a top issue facing the country, while 32 percent cited the state of the economy. Democratic politicians have sought to hammer Trump and his Republican Party on affordability concerns, which Trump has waved away as a “hoax” perpetuated by his political rivals.
The Italian foreign ministry said on Thursday that the US had also agreed to slash proposed import duties on pasta products from 13 companies.
Previously, the Trump administration had threatened the pasta companies with additional tariffs of 92 percent, in addition to import taxes on European Union products.
Italy’s foreign ministry said that the US Commerce Department had agreed to bring that rate down to 2.26 percent for La Molisana and 13.98 percent for Garofalo, two Italian food companies the administration had accused of undercutting other pasta producers through unfairly low prices.
The other companies will face a rate of 9.09 percent.
“The recalculation of the duties is a sign that US authorities recognise our companies’ constructive willingness to cooperate,” the foreign ministry said.
[Aljazeera]
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