Turkish football club Fenerbahce said Monday that the team would not play until the circumstances surrounding a gun attack on a bus carrying its players have been clarified.
The statement came just before the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced that the league games have been postponed for one week.
“We have no intention of playing until this incident has been fully resolved,” club executive Deniz Tolga Aytore said of Saturday’s incident, in which the driver of the team bus was hurt as players returned to Istanbul after beating Rizespor 5-1.
“Those games have no meaning anymore. No championship, no victory is more important than human life,” he said, adding it falls upon the state to find the perpetrators.
TFF chief Yildirim Demiroren said the decision to suspend the league had been taken jointly by all Turkish clubs, but added that the federation was opposed to halting the league altogether because it meant “rewarding the perpetrators.”
“We consider this as a terrorist attack, targeting not only Fenerbahce but Turkish sports,” he said following a meeting with the sports minister.
“We decided to postpone all league and cup games for a week.”
The bus was shot at late Saturday as the Turkish Super Lig leaders passed through the northeastern town of Trabzon following their away game in nearby Rize.
No players were hurt in the attack, but the driver was wounded in the face.
Several international stars were on board including Brazilian midfielder Diego Ribas da Cunha and Raul Meireles from Portugal. Dutch international winger Dirk Kuyt had not travelled to the game.
Media reports said the shots caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle but that a team security official managed to slam on the brakes to prevent it plunging into a ravine.
The team was heading to Trabzon airport to catch a flight back to Istanbul and was later given an armed escort to the airport.
The Trabzon chief prosecutor said in a statement that a person identified as “M.D.” who had allegedly made death threats over the Internet had been detained.
Fenerbahce, which won its 19th Turkish league title this season, currently tops the table ahead of its Istanbul archrivals Galatasaray and Besiktas.
The club says it is still a victim of hostility following stunning match-rigging allegations that have rocked the club for months.
“The attack was an assassination attempt … an act of terrorism,” Aytore said.
“It is a point where football comes to an end since blood has been spilled.”