What a spectacle in Turkey. Outside of the United States, soccer is the biggest sport on the planet, and fans are accordingly passionate about their teams. When Trabzonspor lost 3-2 to Fenerbahce and took issue with the victors celebrating on the pitch, their supporters took matters into their own hands by jumping out of the stands and picking fights all over the place.
Check out this roundhouse kick in the lower-right corner of the frame:
I’ve seen occasional dust-ups and “benches-clearing brawls” between teams. Seldom do you see fans at sporting events getting violent unless it’s amongst themselves. Other than the infamous “Malice at the Palace” incident between the Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons, and fans in the arena from 2004, I don’t know that I’ve seen anything quite like this. More often than not, if there’s a sports-related scrap of some sorts, it’s quickly broken up. Maybe a max of 20 to 30 seconds that anything goes on.
When it comes to this particular instance? There was no stopping it. Might want to dedicate some extra resources to enhanced security next time around.
Fans will almost 100% of the time look like imbeciles if they’re trying to take on a professional athlete in any kind of skirmish. That was certainly the case here. So many wipe-outs, knockdowns, and pathetic attempted fisticuffs across the board. It’s just hard to believe that so many spectators felt emboldened enough to storm the field and participate in this nonsense. What was the end goal? If anything, this should only motivate Fenerbahce even more to kick Trabzonspor’s a**es again the next time they meet.
Regarding the unfortunate scenes from this Turkish Super Lig duel, FIFA president Gianni Infantino condemned everyone’s actions in an official statement early Monday morning.
Hooliganism is always something to watch out for when it comes to soccer. This was an entirely different level of free-for-all chaos. In case you’re interested in a comparison, Netflix released a documentary not long ago about the Malice at the Palace as part of their Untold series.
The extreme reactions from these Turkish fans also brought me back to the story Matt Damon told on Hot Ones about attending a soccer match in Argentina.
Damon was hoping to bring along his wife and kids, but his wife’s uncle insisted that was a terrible idea. There were barricades, barbed wire fencing and other obstructions to discourage violent outbursts from the crowd. It’s a totally wild story. Well worth a couple minutes of your time.
