Actually the Turkish Super shouldcup between champions Galatasaray and cup winners Fenerbahçe will take place in Saudi Arabia on Friday evening (December 29, 2023). But the game was canceled at short notice.
When the game was supposed to be running long ago, but there was still no football being played, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe together with the Turkish Football Association (TFF) issued a statement. It says, the supercup in Riyadh is due “Disruptions in the organization” on one “later point in time” been postponed.
Thoughts about Atatürk as a sticking point
Turkish and foreign media had previously reported unanimously that the game would not take place in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia as originally planned. Like “NTV Sport”, the news agency “DHA”, but also the broadcaster “Sky” and the “Bild” wrote wanted Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe when warming up T-shirts and banners commemorate Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923.
Host Saudi Arabia is said not to have allowed this. According to consistent media reports, both teams are said to have refused to enter the pitch.
Atatürk is considered the founder of the Republic of Turkey, which turned one hundred years old on October 29th. He modernized the country and anchored secularism, i.e. the separation between state and religion, in the constitution.