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The Turkish club has issued a statement condemning the chants
UEFA has opened a disciplinary investigation against Fenerbahçe after its fans chanted Vladimir Putin’s name during a Champions League match against Dynamo Kyiv.
The Ukrainian side defeated the Turkish outfit 2-1 in Istanbul on Wednesday, advancing to the third qualifying round of the competition.
But the game was marred by a section of Fenerbahçe supporters, who chanted the Russian president’s name after the Turkish club said Kyiv players provoked its fans while celebrating their second-half goal.
Ukraine and Russia are now several months into a brutal war that began when Putin initiated an invasion of Ukraine in February.
Dynamo Kyiv coach Mircea Lucescu refused to attend the post-game press conference as a sign of protest.
Fenerbahçe taraftarı, Ukrayna Takımı Dinamo Kiev’in golünü atan Buyalski’nin tribünlere yaptığı hareket sonrası Putin tezahüratları söyledi.
— ibrahim Haskoloğlu (@haskologlu) July 27, 2022
In a statement released on Thursday, Fenerbahçe said that although the chants “lasted only 20 seconds in the 120-minute match,” they were still unacceptable.
“We are making this statement against a discourse that does not represent our club and does not reflect our club’s corporate stance in any way,” the statement read.
Fener did state its belief that Dynamo’s players were partially at fault, saying: “The exaggerated movements of some of the opposing team’s players, especially the reserve goalkeeper who played for a team in our country in the past, caused some of the stands to get excited.
“Whatever the reason may be, we, as Fenerbahçe Sports Club, do not accept the reaction that arises from some of our stands.
“It is not a fair and equitable approach to attribute this discourse, which never represents the stance and values of our club, to all our fans and to attribute responsibility to our club.”
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