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Tuesday 23rd April 2002

Ballsy ball-boy in Bayburt balls-up

A ball-boy at a Turkish third-division game between Bayburtspor and Orduspor has landed his team in serious bother by playing out a sporting fantasy shared by millions.

In the 88th minute, with the ball trickling towards the Bayburt net and the goalkeeper and defenders helpless to stop it, he ran on to the pitch and booted it to safety.

After showing the offending youth a red card, referee Mehmet Simsek restarted the game with a drop ball. The defence cleared their lines and the match finished goalless.

Bayburt's point for securing a draw may come at a cost, though. They face a heavy fine and the possibility of their stadium being closed for future fixtures.



Meanwhile, an amateur match down the road in Giresun between Sabinkarahisar and Oren Municipality finished in equally controversial circumstances.

With 11 minutes on the clock, the ball landed in a river close to the pitch and was carried away downstream.

Hosts Sabinkarahisar only had one ball available and, when a replacement could not be produced, the referee was forced to abandon the match.

This led to accusations from Oren, who were leading 5-3 at the time, that a Sabinkarahisar player had lumped the ball into the water deliberately.

The Giresun amateur league's organising committee have ordered the last 11 minutes to be played out at a neutral venue - presumably one without a nearby river. Or any scallyway ball-boys.

 

[carlito]

Now, this is a serious tragedic incident of our football

The Green, Green Weeds of Malatya
What's that chemical?
Bursa Chairman Erdogan Bilenser says of his team's experience at the Malatya Inonu Stadium, 'When we arrived in the changing room, there was an acrid smell. On examining the room, we found that an agricultural chemical had been poured on the floor'
Physical attacks
Bilenser confirms that Moshoeu and Okan were hit on the head and says that captain Omer suffered an eye injury, though the assault did not prevent any of the three from playing. He further alleges that he was punched by an unknown assailant in the VIP box

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Michael Severn
Bursaspor's nickname is the Green Crocodiles. After a bizarre episode in Malatya on Sunday, maybe they should now be known as the Green Weeds.

Readers may be fed up with stories about violence and controversy surrounding soccer, but this one adds a whole new smelly dimension. Bursa Chairman Erdogan Bilenser said of his team's experience at the Malatya Inonu Stadium, "When we arrived in the changing room, there was an acrid smell. On examining the room, we found that an agricultural chemical had been poured on the floor."

We do not know what this gunk was any more than Mr. Bilenser does, but the term "agricultural chemical" is most frequently used to refer to weedkiller. The chairman went on to say that the players managed with difficulty to open a window, changed quickly and got out of the aromatic room as fast as possible.

Bursa officials took two samples of the offending chemical. One was presented to the match observer, the other has been sent for analysis.

Happy to escape
But this was neither the beginning nor the end of the trouble. For a long time the Crocs looked like taking full points thanks to a 35th minute goal by Okan Yilmaz but then succumbed to two late strikes by relegation-haunted Malatyaspor.

However, Erdogan Bilenser commented, "We're not sorry to have lost. We're happy to have escaped with our lives."

Hostilities began as soon as the Bursa squad arrived at Malatya's Erhac Airport. It was met by a hostile mob of hometown fans armed, according to an account on the Bursaspor website, with "stones and sticks."

Bilenser claimed they were also carrying "fireworks and other explosive materials". Seems a funny way to run an airport if they were allowed anywhere near it with all that lot.

The bus carrying the Bursa party to its hotel was stoned. Arrival in the safe surroundings of the hotel induced a huge sigh of relief. But the players had no chance to see the sights of Malatya before the match. Another threatening crowd gathered outside and they were afraid to go out.

No bus
On the following day, when the game was played, Bursaspor found that no bus had been provided to take the team to the stadium. They were rescued by the police who laid on a vehicle which had been on loan to a driving school.

When they arrived at the Inonu, says the website, they were "harassed" as they made their way through the corridors to the changing room. Having escaped from its noxious stink onto the pitch for their warm-up, they were treated by the Malatyaspor supporters to the almost traditional rain of stones, lighters, coins and other objects.

If we are to believe the website, still worse was to follow. After their warm-up, the players went back indoors. As they were heading for the pitch again for the kickoff, they were attacked in the tunnel by "a group of 20 or 25 people with sticks."

Bilenser confirmed that John Moshoeu and Okan were hit on the head and said that captain Omer Kilic suffered an eye injury, though the assault did not prevent any of the three from playing. Bilenser further alleged that he was punched by an unknown assailant in the VIP box.

Normal
Malatyaspor has as yet declined to comment on any of this. We have our own comment, though. Last week we reported very similar incidents (though without the weedkiller) when Caykur Rizespor played in Diyarbakir and stonings and beatings are becoming commonplace. It was just a normal Sunday afternoon in Malatya.