Supporters of Turkish football club Fenerbahce goaded Ukrainian team Dynamo Kyiv with chants of 'Vladimir Putin' after conceding a goal in a Champions League qualifying match.
Following accusations that Fenerbahce supporters were shouting chants in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin during Wednesday night's Champions League qualifier loss to Dynamo Kyiv, UEFA launched an investigation into the behaviour of the Turkish club's supporters.
According to the regulatory body, an ethical and disciplinary inspector has been assigned to look into "alleged misbehaviour of Fenerbahçe supporters" during the second qualifying round match between the Ukrainian club's first and second legs, which the latter team won 2-1 after extra time. The first leg, which was played in Poland, was scoreless.
Also read: MI6 chief's bold Ukraine war assessment: Russia running 'out of steam'
The chants started after Dynamo player Vitaliy Buyalskyi made an eagle gesture with his hands to celebrate giving his team the lead. Besiktas, a fierce rival of Fenerbahce, is represented by an eagle.
Fenerbahçe taraftarı, Dinamo Kievli futbolcunun attığı golden sonra abartılı şekilde sevinmesi üzerine “Vladimir Putin” tezahüratı yaptı pic.twitter.com/sTjhNM0n2R
— Batu Bozkürk (@batubozkurk)Матч завершено! «Динамо» у додатковий час вириває перемогу у «Фенербахче» і проходить до наступного раунду Ліги чемпіонів! 💪 (1:2) pic.twitter.com/YkuG8fqiED
— FC Dynamo Kyiv (@DynamoKyiv)In a statement condemning the behaviour, Fenerbahce referred to "the exaggerated movements of some of the opposing team's players." It added that it "does not accept the reaction that arises from some of our stands" and their "stance [is] that sports and politics should always be kept separate from each other".
Also read: Ukraine war: Decoding why Moscow could go nuclear over Kyiv's threats to Crimea
Dynamo head coach Mircea Lucescu, who formerly managed Turkey's national side, said that UEFA could not accept the behaviour of the [Fenerbahce] fans and described the chants as "a pity" while Putin's army continued to commit atrocities across Ukraine.
⚽️ 57' – ГООООЛ! Віталій Буяльський! (0:1) pic.twitter.com/lcEaPyrCFF
— FC Dynamo Kyiv (@DynamoKyiv)Some supporters have demanded the exclusion of Fenerbahce from European competition. If found in violation, the club will probably be punished or might even be required to play a home game in secret.
Vasyl Bodnar, the ambassador for Ukraine, wrote on Facebook that the incident had "saddened" him. "We will never understand the words of support for the Russian killer and aggressor who deliberately kills Ukrainians and destroys our country," Bodnar wrote. "Even football, which is so loved in Turkey, has its limits," Bodnar said.
The third qualifying round will pit Dynamo against Sturm Graz of Austria, with the first leg taking place in Lodz, Poland, on Wednesday.
The local Ukrainian league is also slated to resume play in late August, with games taking place in locations west of Kyiv and being played behind closed doors for security concerns.
Andriy Pavelko, president of the Ukrainian FA, said the resumption "is about demonstrating the fearlessness of our people, the indomitable spirit and desire for inevitable victory."
Meanwhile, the video that has now garnered over 7 million views on Twitter has sparked a massive outrage, with several users calling the behaviour of Fenerbahce fans as 'disgusting' and demanding UEFA to ban the Turkish club from all European competitions. Here's a look at some of the reactions:
Disgusting behaviour from the fenerbahce supporters towards dynamo kiev ! Maybe should ban this team to set an example that this is scandalous and not in any way done ! Or play a year without fans ! To sing chants about your rival team ok, but singing for a warlord.. 🤮🤮
— Kim Huybrechts🇧🇪 (@KimHuybrechts)I am an Ukrainian and I want to say there is no place for racist countries in Europe! Punish the racist Fenerbahce fans and their racist teams! Fuck Vladimir Putin!
— fanakati (@fanakati)Fenerbahce about the right size for UEFA's disciplinary organs to punish. https://t.co/yl2Hu7oqxd
— tariq panja (@tariqpanja)Fenerbahçe fans chanted Vladimir Putin's name in yesterday's match against Dynamo Kyiv.
Dynamo Kyiv ended up beating them and eliminating Fener from the Champions League, and now, UEFA have opened a disciplinary investigation against them.
Gotta love karma.
Disgusting 'Vladimir Putin' chant from Fenerbahce fans after D. Kyiv's goal yesterday evening. I support Fenerbahce since my childhood but this is totally unacceptable, shameful and wicked whatever the reason was. This should be severely punished by UEFA.😳😠☮️
— Psychoff (@psychofftrading)UEFA may punish Fenerbahce for the fact that his fans at the game with Dynamo Kyiv chanted Putin's name.
— Spriteer (@spriteer_774400)Dear
fenerbahçe should be banned from all tournaments,
be expelled from organizations indefinitely
Fenerbahce should be banned from European cups for 5 years. https://t.co/v83jSbvMAJ
— Gkn (@Gkn198)As a Fenerbahce supporter, I apologize to all the Ukrainian people for the bad cheer. 🇺🇦❤️🇺🇦
— ara (@ara844035721)Fenerbahce played a match against Shakhtar to help Ukraine last month. 🇺🇦
Are you fucking serious? https://t.co/yJpmvzn43P
If you don't give the heaviest punishment to Fenerbahçe, it means you are not fair!!✍️ !!!
— İsmet_Sunayığlu (@LeoDubo81113800)5 year out
— Çoşkun Başlı🏆 😎 (@baslicoskun61)UEFA may impose a two-year ban on Turkish club Fenerbahçe from European cups and a ban on transferring players to Europe due to Putin chants.
— Genç Valerien (@gencvalerien)After Kiev's goal, 40 thousand fenerbahçe fans in the stadium started to cheer in favor of war criminal Vladimir Putin because they only conceded a goal. As a Turk, I am very ashamed. I apologize to all war-torn Ukrainians. ban fenerbahçe ! https://t.co/xXi3ZhBApL
— Abubakor (@sivertmannsverk)Don't let them pollute the football. As the Great Leader MustafaKemal Atatürk said, you should ban the @Fenerbahçe football team from UEFA for life, based on the phrase "Peace at home, peace in the world". pic.twitter.com/eYfXRbkIDJ
— ADANMIŞ HAYATLARIN UMUDU (@SANLIGALATSARAY)To Whom It May Concern ,
YOU MUST BAN FENERBAHCE FROM ALL EUROPEAN COMPETITIONS İMMEDİATELY DUE TO CHEERS FOR BLOODY DAEMON VLADIMIR PUTIN
. please ban Fenerbahçe from all your events. This is disgusting, pathetic and infuriating. https://t.co/Do4HYu6ZGO
— yiğit 🌑 (@dykitantsi)I hope uefa gives to Fenerbahçe the biggest ban in their history and then no one shouts Putin's name in the stadium anymore.
— Jilvio Jerlisconi (@zaferdekir) Fenerbahce is the only Turkish club that played against the British army when Istanbul was under British occupation.
These shameless people also write this in their history as success, so I'm not surprised by what happened today. ban to fenerbahce
Ukraine 🇺🇦🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 ban fenerbahce!!! https://t.co/AnaYtegynx
— Abubakor (@sivertmannsverk)