In the 25th week of Spor Toto Super League, Demir Grup Sivasspor lost 3-0 away to Istanbulspor and coach Rıza Çalımbay said that referee Halil Umut Meler had a very bad match.
Making a statement at the press conference held after the match played in Esenyurt Necmi Kadıoğlu Stadium, Çalimbay stated that they conceded an unlucky goal at the beginning of the match.
“We played well after the goal, not bad.” Çalimbay said:
“Unfortunately, the goals we conceded were unlucky goals. In my opinion, Halil Umut Meler’s mistake is very shameful, we always respect him, but it is a great disrespect. Max Gradel did nothing. Halil Umut Meler is right because of the applause on the red card. Max Gradel only objected to the goalkeeper to start. However, the yellow card provoked the player and made him very nervous. Is it that easy to kick a man. It’s not refereeing. First you calm the player down, then you tell the goalkeeper to be faster. He didn’t do it either. He kicked it out on purpose. “I believe he intentionally kicked him out of the game. I’m a respectful person to the referees. I’m a person who does my best. But in my opinion, what Halil Umut Meler did is not right. He should have calmed down a little by communicating with the players. In my opinion, he managed a very bad match.”
Noting that he made a mistake by going into rotation in the match, Çalimbay said, “Today, I made a mistake by going into rotation as a coach. I didn’t play most of our friends who played in the Fiorentina match. I changed almost the whole team. But unfortunately it didn’t turn out as I expected. I was sad, I expected a lot from friends, but unfortunately I did not get what I expected. It was a mistake for me. It means I made a mistake.” used the phrases.
Speaking about his goals, the experienced technical man said, “We will look ahead, we have a very important European match ahead of us. Then we have league matches. No matter what anyone says, we will repeat this year as we went to Europe in the previous seasons. We will come to a very good place in the league. This match has been a great lesson for us.” he said.