Altay Club has released a statement regarding the eventful Göztepe match.
Here is that explanation:
The date 27.11.2022 unfortunately passed as a black night in our football history. First of all, we would like to convey our best wishes to Mehmet Çakır and Ozan Evrim Özenç for the events that took place.
We are going through a sensitive process that needs to be evaluated with multi-faceted and common sense. While making our evaluations, we try to choose all our words carefully.
First of all, we want it to be known that; Altay and Göztepe are the locomotives of İzmir and the country’s football and are very special assets that produce tens of thousands of truths with a century-old experience. In this regard, we have emphasized in our joint statement that we condemn all the attacks of those who are in the wrong, regardless of the person or the club.
Subsequently, after the meeting hosted by our Honorable Governor with the President of the Turkish Football Federation and his delegation, we separately conveyed that the attacks did not represent the communities, as the stakeholders of football.
The attack on our athlete Ozan Evrim Özenç took place on the green field, where football should be the most private. This assailant was arrested for deliberate attempted murder. We will closely follow the legal process regarding this attack, which had a wide impact in the world press.
Altay Sports Club has adhered strictly to the values of the Republic of Turkey since its establishment. Therefore, we condemn those who carry out a systematic lynching campaign on social media against the 108-year-old sycamore ALTAY, whose roots go back to the Kuva-yi Milliye, by distorting the act of a person who confessed to committing the crime individually. Legal proceedings are being carried out against the people who carried out this smear campaign, and the people, media organs and social media accounts who engage in these actions that are against the spirit of sportsmanship, degrade the value of football and cause damage to the clubs will be reported to the Turkish Football Federation.
Altay Sports Club, like our friend Göztepe Sports Club, is the victim of violence and football terror because of what happened on the night of 27.11.2022 and demands that all those responsible be held accountable before the judiciary. Necessary steps will be taken to ban those who carried out this inhuman attack, and those whose crimes are proven at the end of the trial, from the Altay tribunes for life. We would like to remind you that the tickets for the Göztepe match were not distributed by the Altay Sports Club, but were put up for sale through the Passolig system. In addition, it is understood that some of the spectators entering the away tribune were taken to the stands without using their Passolig card. The suspect of the act of throwing a cartridge also stated that he put the cartridge into the stands with this ingenuity.
Finally, before the Turkish Football Federation takes a decision on the continuation or the outcome of the match, our Club also declares its opinion on the subject as a requirement of its sportsmanship stance in its history:
It is our greatest desire that our eternal friend Göztepe, İzmir and the country’s football do not suffer any further damage as a result of the match, which was suspended by the decision of the referee. For this reason, we think that the match should be played from the first minute, open to women and children fans of all teams of Izmir, reflecting the spirit of unity. Our club does not want to gain a possible advantage under any circumstances, even with a single point to be awarded on paper. Football is a sport based on friendship, peace, brotherhood and solidarity that requires superior morality and gentlemanliness.
As a reflection of our sadness at the events in the match in question, our club has decided to play in the black jersey at the Boluspor football match, which we will meet at our home in the 16th week of the league.
With the wishes of clean football and sportsmanlike struggle,
ALTAY SPORTS CLUB