TNT Sports
Turkey fire back
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Published 17/11/2005 at 17:36 GMT
Turkey criticised FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Thursday for commenting on the violent scenes that followed the World Cup playoff defeat by Switzerland before an investigation. Earlier, Blatter promised tough action from world soccer's ruling body after
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"I am disappointed to hear the statement of the FIFA president before the reports of the match are unveiled," Mehmet Ali Sahin, state minister responsible for sports, told a news briefing.
"He spoke as a Swiss fan instead of as a president... These kinds of statements are misleading the decision-makers."
Wednesday's match was marred by clashes in the tunnel involving players from both teams.
The punishment after the inquiry could range from a warning to the suspension of any football association found to be at fault.
"If such a decision is taken it is going to be very controversial. We expect FIFA to evaluate the event objectively," Sahin said.
Turkish Football Federation chairman Levent Bicakci also criticised Blatter's comments.
"Our federation finds the FIFA president's statement really odd and we will do whatever we can to clarify this event and to make sure that Switzerland gets the same penalty as Turkey," he told a news conference.
Turkish newspapers reignited anger at the behaviour of the Swiss team during the two-legged playoff, lashing out at referee Frank de Bleeckere and echoing Turkey coach Fatih Terim who described the referees as "immoral" and "thieves".
They also voiced concern that Turkey faces severe punishment from FIFA over a hailstorm of missiles thrown at the Swiss players and clashes between the players as they left the pitch at the end of the game.
"I personally do not think the behaviour of players towards each other could lead to a penalty for a country, that kind of behaviour is very spontaneous and cannot be stopped immediately," Sahin said.
He did, however, offer a guarded apology.
"Our hospitality is much more important than the result we get on the field. I was disappointed by the behaviour of some fans toward Swiss players at the airport but the Swiss team has exaggerated this to the world," Sahin said.
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