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".

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.

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.

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.

The former president of Turkey’s Ankaragücü Faruk Koca was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for attacking referee Halil Umut Meler late last year. Koca (pictured) became embroiled in one of the biggest scandals in Turkish football’s history when,

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

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.

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.

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