Open Letter to the President of TFF

Dear Pres. Mehmet Ali Aydinlar and Members of the Board:

I am writing to you in outrage after the Besiktas J.K. –  Galatasaray incident in which fans threw objects at Emmanuel Eboue.

It is never acceptable to throw objects at players, regardless of personal feelings about the player, and regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religious affiliation. To do so undermines everything that FIFA have been working to achieve. This year has brought about numerous accusations of racist slurs and chants from both players and fans alike. Inaction is by far the worst option for the TFF to take, and only perpetuates racism and hatred in football, The Beautiful Game.

I call upon the board to show the world that Turkish football will no longer accept violent and racist behavior towards players, that TFF supports its players, and supports a policy of non-discrimination. I call upon the board to discipline Besiktas J.K., by means of fines and reparations. I call upon the board to instruct refereeing officials to take measures to ensure the safety of players and fans alike by making announcements to fans that racist behavior will not be tolerated, and by suspending matches if peace and respectful behavior is not maintained.

Finally, I call upon the board to investigate the individuals behind the abuse, and ban them from the stadiums. Make the stadiums safe for players and fans.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Rivera

jenriv89@hotmail.com

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A bit of context, in case you hadn’t seen this already!

If you would like to email the Turkish Football Federation, here is the address to their International Department intdept@tff.org  and their Media Matters medyailetisim@tff.org At the moment, it’s the best that I could find but if you find the direct email address to the president or members of the Board, let me know so I can send a copy to them as well. Finally, I urge you to also write letters! The more people who send letters, the more likely they are to listen. We may be football fans from outside the area, but we can at least try!