Turkish football club MKE Ankaragucu have defended their former president Faruk Koca as being the “target of one-sided public perception” after he was sentenced to more than three years in prison for assaulting a referee last year.

Former Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca has been sentenced to three years and seven months in prison after physically assaulting referee Umut Meler after a Turkish Super Lig match in late 2023.

Turkish football club Ankaragucu have protested against their former president, Faruk Koca being sentenced to more than three years in prison for assaulting a referee last year, claiming the verdict was influenced by "misleading public perception".

A Turkish court has handed a former Super Lig team president a prison sentence of more than three years for attacking a referee on the pitch.

Turkish football club Ankaragucu defend their former president Faruk Koca after he was sentenced to jail for assaulting a referee.

THE former president of Turkish side MKE Ankaragucu has been jailed after attacking a referee last year. Faruk Koca, 60, punched referee Halil Umut Meler following his team’s 1-1 draw with

A Turkish court sentenced a former top-flight football club executive to more than three and a half years in prison for attacking a referee at the end of a league game last season.

A former high-ranking Turkish soccer executive was handed down a lengthy prison sentence on Monday in the aftermath of his attack on a referee last season. A Turkish court sentenced former Ankaragucu team president Faruk Koca to more than three years in prison after he was convicted for an assault on referee Halil Umut Meler following a Super Lig contest against Caykur Rizespor last year.