Football
Eren Sarigul, ESPN.com writer 6y

Besiktas boycott rescheduled Turkish Cup semifinal against Fenerbache

Reigning Turkish Super Lig champions Besiktas boycotted Thursday's Turkish Cup semifinal clash against rivals Fenerbahce.

The fixture was initially abandoned after Besiktas boss Senol Gunes was struck in the head by a foreign object thrown from the stands resulting in the former Turkey national team manager receiving five stitches to the head, suffering a mild concussion and spending the night in hospital.

Gunes expressed his dismay at the hostile climate in Turkish Football following his sides derby defeat to Galatasaray on Sunday.

"There really isn't much left to say. In an environment where we have lost our values, I will not discuss any technical aspects of the game. We lost, we are sad that's all," Gunes said after the game.

The Istanbul rivals were level on aggregate at 2-2 up until the point the first-leg was abandoned in the 57th minute on April 19.

Besiktas were down to 10 men after Portugal international Pepe was sent off for a crunching tackle on Fenerbahce's Josef de Souza.

Trouble started brewing when Ricardo Quaresma was pelted with foreign objects thrown from the crowd.

The game had to be stopped as a result of the Portugal international being unable to take a corner twice as a result of the objects being hurled at him.

It all hit a climax in the 57th minute when an argument broke out between Besiktas substitute goalkeeper Tolga Zengin and several Fenerbahce fans. It was Gunes who ended up being struck on the head by an object thrown from the stand as he tried to intervene in the situation.

The Besiktas boss subsequently ended up being taken to hospital while the game was abandoned.

The Turkish Football Federation -- TFF -- controversially ruled that the game will be continued behind closed doors from the exact time when it was stopped, but Besiktas did not turn up to the replay.

The Black Eagles maintained that they should have been awarded an automatic victory by the TFF. In a statement released on Besiktas' official website account last week, the Istanbul based club confirmed that they would boycott the semi-final clash.

"Even though millions clearly saw that Besiktas were the only victims, the Turkish Football Federation ruled that our Turkish Cup semi-final second leg against Fenerbahce should continue from where it was abandoned," it read.

"As a club who adhere to fair-play at all times, Beşiktaş JK have decided not to take part in the said Cup game, scheduled for Thursday, 3 May 2018.

"We believe that this will be the most dignified stand for Besiktas supporters to have their voices heard."

Fenerbahce were the only side that took to the field on Thursday evening and were declared 3-0 winners by referee Mete Kalkavan when the clock ticked past the 17:30 (GMT) kick-off time.

Meanwhile, Besiktas took to social media in the lead up to the game and posted photos of the side training for an upcoming Turkish Super Lig clash against Kayserispor.

The Yellow Canaries manager Aykut Kocaman stated that he would have preferred to lose the conventional way rather than win in this manner.

"Besiktas made a difficult decision. I would have preferred to lose instead of winning this way," he said.

Besiktas have been banned from next season's domestic cup competition and have been ordered to pay back the 4 million Turkish lira -- £698,820 -- they earned from the competition this year.

Fenerbahce will face Akhisar in the Turkish Cup Final which is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, May 9.

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