Saudi Arabia’s Turkish Cup final postponed over political row

The Turkish Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia was postponed just ahead of kick-off following a row between the competing clubs and the host nation’s authorities.

Galatasaray and Fenerbahce were set to play the first-ever final outside of Turkey at the 25,000-capacity Al-Awwal Park stadium in Riyadh, the capital city of the nation that will host the 2034 FIFA World Cup finals. However, the teams refused to play after they were told they could not pay tribute to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, regarded as the father of modern Turkey. The teams wanted to carry banners and wear T-shirts bearing Ataturk’s words a century after he became the country’s first elected president in 1923.

The game was officially postponed at 7pm local time on Friday (Dec 29), more than an hour after it was due to start. The Turkish Football Federation and the clubs blamed “problems in organising” the match. However, organisers said the teams’ plans would have violated FIFA rules on political slogans.

The Riyadh Season, organisers of the match, said: “We were looking forward to holding the match on time in accordance with the international soccer rules and regulations that require the sport to be presented without any slogans outside its scope, especially since this was discussed with the Turkish federation in the framework of the preparatory meetings for the match.

“Despite this agreement, it was unfortunate that the two teams did not adhere to what had been agreed upon, which led to the match not being held.”

Saudi’s burgeoning sporting portfolio

Turkey was a vocal supporter of Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup. However, the Super Cup incident highlighted the potential discord between Saudi Arabia, an Islamic theocracy, and secular Turkey.

Saudi Arabia has embarked on an ambitious campaign to stage international sporting events in recent years. As well as being named as the 2034 World Cup host its Saudi Pro League has attracted some of the world’s most famous footballers, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar. Last month it staged the FIFA Club World Cup Saudi Arabia 2023, which was won by Manchester City.

Saudi-backed LIV Golf has revolutionised the sport, attracting some of the world’s top players with its huge purses. The nation recently staged a major boxing event, with the ‘Day of Reckoning’ featuring stars Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker.

Saudi Arabia will also host the 2027 Asian Cup, 2034 Asian Games and 2029 Asian Winter Games.