Should politics have a place on the football pitch?

The Saudis said this amounted to politicisation which, as per the rules of the game, is not allowed.

Neither side backed down and the game was cancelled. For Turkey, the timing is particularly emotive, given that 2023 is the centenary of its founding.

Yet it left the Saudis confused, because the Turkish clubs' stance ran counter to the agreement made before the match between the organisers, the clubs, and the Turkish Football Federation.

To some extent, the controversy mirrors a growing tension within Turkish football, which has been intensified by a burgeoning nationalist sentiment.

Waving posters of Atatürk, hundreds of supporters of both greeted them as heroes on their return.

A reflection on Turkey

It is no surprise that the repercussions of this national sentiment would manifest in a game with such a widespread following. In light of the centenary, both teams pressed to relocate venue.

They proposed either to the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, named in honour of Atatürk, or to the 19 Mayıs Stadium in Samsun, site of the spark of the War of Independence that culminated in the establishment of the republic.

Ali Koç, a scion of one of Turkey's wealthiest families and president of Fenerbahçe, was a prominent figure behind these proposals.

He assumed the club presidency several years ago, succeeding Aziz Yıldırım, despite the explicit support the latter received from Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, renowned for his patronage of the team in yellow and blue.

Interestingly, Erdoğan's association with Fenerbahçe didn't stop the club's supporters from singing anti-government chants after the earthquake in Turkey last year that killed more than 50,000 people.

Koç openly fosters a strong link between his family and the opposition Republican People's Party, which sees itself as the rightful heir of secular Atatürkism.

It came as no surprise that Koç's position during the Super Cup crisis resonated within the Galatasaray community, which hails from the European sector of Istanbul, closely aligned with Atatürkist ideals.

Galatasaray originated from a high school whose founder, Ali Sami Yen, dreamed of creating a team that could "play like the British and beat the foreigners".  

In 2000, Yen's dream came true: Galatasaray won the European UEFA Cup, beating English club Arsenal in the final. It remains Turkey's sole continental title to-date.

Football nil, politics one

The politicised backdrop to the match in Riyadh overshadowed the TFF's efforts the smooth things over.

After all, other tournaments have been held in the city, such as the Italian and Spanish Super Cups, with no crises and robust fan attendance.

It is the latest controversy to hit Turkish football, the country having suspending its leagues in early December after a club president punched a referee and put him in hospital. The incident made the news around the world.

The Riyadh rumpus came down to images and slogans. On paper, the rules unequivocally prohibit the display of political slogans in stadiums.

Last October, Saudi club Jeddah cited these regulations when it withdrew from a match against Iran's Sepahan, because the stadium's entrance features a statue honouring controversial Iranian army general Qasem Soleimani.

Assassinated by the United States in Baghdad in January 2020, Soleimani was the commander of the Quds Force, which supports non-state actors such as Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Yemen's Houthis, and Shia militias in Iraq.

Jeddah was confident of securing both the victory and the points without playing, as stipulated in the rules of the Asian Football Confederation.

Nevertheless, the inconsistency in how international football governing bodies address specific political issues underscores a failure to establish a uniform position.

Football's muddied waters

FIFA, the international football governing body entrusted with the issuance of pertinent regulations, has demonstrated notable confusion.

Initially, it excluded Russia from world football after its invasion of Ukraine, then relaxed the ban on Russian teams without Russia having withdrawn from Ukraine or in any way changed its conduct.

All of this happened while FIFA President Gianni Infantino still held the Order of Friendship, a distinction personally bestowed on him by President Vladimir Putin following Russia's successful hosting of the 2018 World Cup.

This was the cue for the world's social media users to amplify the incoherence, asking: where do you draw the line when it comes to football and politics?

Another instance came late last year when Dutch player Anwar El Ghazi published a pro-Palestinian post on Instagram, saying: "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

Less than a month earlier, he had signed a two-year contract with German club Mainz 05. Despite that, the club dismissed him after he refused to distance himself from what he said.

Less than a year earlier, however, players in the German national team undertook a political protest at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, symbolically silencing their mouths after FIFA banned armbands in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

Questions everywhere

The phrase "from the river to the sea" cropped up again in England, where it has recently been chanted every weekend through the streets of London.

After a tweet by Leicester City's Hamza Choudhury, the English Football Association (FA) issued a directive urging players not to use the phrase on their accounts, deeming it "offensive to many".

Similarly, the FA declined to illuminate the arch of Wembley Stadium in the colours of Israel following the 7 October attacks, despite criticism from the British government and the UK's Jewish community for its decision.

The matter is not helped by the fact that many football clubs inherently convey a political message. One of the most famous is FC Barcelona.

Their fans chant, "Catalonia is not Spanish," and their players wear the colours of the regional flag, advocating for separation from the Spanish crown.

Old Firm disputes between Rangers and Celtic in Scotland have been laced with a political and sectarian dimension for years. Traditionally, Rangers fans are Protestant and Loyalist, while Celtic fans are Catholic and Republican.

Looking ahead, it is questionable whether clubs should cling to old political or tribal loyalties or put politics about football, as happened in Riyadh.

As the sport evolves and clubs need to appeal to new fan bases for financial survival, such decisions may soon need to be made with the head, not the heart.

In this competitive world, there is no room for tweets like that issued by Daryl Morey, manager of the Houston Rockets, expressing support for Hong Kong protesters a few years ago.

It led to his departure, sparked a diplomatic row with China, and led to millions of dollars in losses for the National Basketball Association of North America.

There is a time and a place for politics. A sports arena would not appear to be one.