13.03.2026 16:20
Galatasaray Club Secretary Eray Yazgan spoke about the discussions regarding foreign VAR referees. Yazgan stated that the last club to complain about VAR decisions in Turkey would be Fenerbahçe, saying, "They are trying to create a perception in their own way. Let me give you a simple example: This season, there have been 14 VAR reviews in Fenerbahçe matches. 12 of these decisions were in favor of Fenerbahçe."
Galatasaray Club Secretary Eray Yazgan stated that the foreign-supported Video Assistant Referee (VAR) application should be implemented in the Trendyol Super League.
'WE HAVE NO INTENTION OF LEAVING VAR COMPLETELY TO FOREIGNERS' Yazgan, who noted that they initiated efforts for the foreign-supported VAR system through the Clubs Union Foundation after the national matches to be played at the end of March, made the following assessment: "For us, the issue has never been about local or foreign referees. We distinguish between referees with good and poor performance. The refereeing system should be viewed through this lens. We were saying the same thing two years ago, and we are saying the same thing today. We have not deviated even a millimeter on this issue. Let's invite referees from abroad, preferably from the top 5 leagues in Europe, to replace our referees with low performance. At least let them serve in the VAR system. Of course, we have no intention of leaving VAR completely to foreign referees. We should not block the development of our referees either. One of the mistakes made last season was this. We made the same warnings at that time. If you have 20 VAR referees and 10 of them have low performance, you can set these names aside for a while and support the system with foreign VAR referees. When I can't find a good right-back to play for Galatasaray from Turkey, I transfer Sacha Boey or Wilfried Singo from France. This does not mean that Barış Alper Yılmaz or Yunus Akgün will not play in other positions. Indeed, our president also officially applied through the Clubs Union for the foreign-supported VAR system to be implemented after the national match break."
"THE LAST TEAM TO COMPLAIN ABOUT VAR IS F.BAHÇE" Yazgan claimed that the last club to complain about VAR decisions in Turkey is Fenerbahçe. He stated that they heard that Fenerbahçe also requested foreign VAR support, and he used the following expressions:
I think the last team to complain about VAR in Turkey is Fenerbahçe. However, they are trying to create a perception on their part. Let me give you a simple example: This season, VAR reviews have been conducted 14 times in Fenerbahçe matches. 12 of these decisions were in favor of Fenerbahçe, and only 2 were against. During this process, Fenerbahçe won 5 penalties, and their opponents received 4 red cards. The other decisions were related to offside situations. When you look at our matches, VAR reviews were also conducted 14 times. 9 of these were in our favor, and 5 were against us. In these decisions against us, we received two red cards. Additionally, we lost a total of 6 points due to VAR interventions unrelated to offside in the matches against Kocaelispor and Konyaspor. There is an illusion being attempted to be created. Everyone needs to know that this is not true.
"THEY SHOULD STOP THE PERCEPTION GAMES; HERE ARE THE NUMBERS" Yazgan, who compared the number of cards seen by Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe in Super League and European matches, said: "I am a person who believes in mathematics and statistics. There is a beautiful saying, 'If Aleppo is there, the measuring stick is here.' This season, we have received 50 yellow cards in the Super League. This averages to about 2 yellow cards per match. In our 11 matches in Europe, we received 23 yellow cards. This means approximately 2.1 yellow cards per match. Our averages in Turkey and Europe are almost identical. When you look at Fenerbahçe, they have received 55 yellow cards in 25 matches in Turkey. This averages to 2.2 yellow cards per match. In Europe, they received 35 yellow cards in 10 matches. So they have an average of 3.5 yellow cards per match. There is a significant difference. In Turkey, comments are sometimes made like 'Galatasaray receives fewer cards in the Super League, while referees behave differently in Europe.' However, the numbers are clear. If Aleppo is there, the measuring stick is here. Please let’s put aside unnecessary perception games that pit people against each other. The truths are already clearly evident."