Riyadh: The Turkish Super Cup final between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh on Friday, December 29, was postponed due to a dispute with Saudi authorities over the players’ jerseys.
The match was scheduled to start at 5:45 pm GMT, and thousands of fans were already inside Riyadh’s Al Awal Stadium. It was canceled at 7 pm.
In a joint statement issued by Turkish Football Federation on X, the two Istanbul clubs said, “The 2023 Super Cup … has been postponed to a later date as a result of a joint decision we made with our clubs, due to some problems in its organisation.”
They expressed their gratitude to the Saudi Football Federation and the relevant institutions and organizations in the host country for the efforts they made to organize the Turkish Super Cup in their country.
Riyadh Season, organisers of the match, said, “We were looking forward to holding the match on time in accordance with the international soccer rules and regulations that require the sport to be presented without any slogans outside its scope, especially since this was discussed with the Turkish federation in the framework of the preparatory meetings for the match.
“Despite this agreement, it was unfortunate that the two teams did not adhere to what had been agreed upon, which led to the match not being held.”
As per multiple media reports, both teams wanted to wear T-shirts with bearing the image of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern-day Turkey, and the message ‘Peace at home, Peace in the world’ during the warm-up of the game but a request rejected by Saudi authorities.
The players insisted on T-shirts for the Super Cup, as it coincides with the 100th anniversary of Ataturk’s proclamation of the Turkish Republic.
It is reported that the players from two clubs have left Riyadh’s Al-Awwal Park Stadium and are now returning home.