|
I´m wondering... how important is football for Turkish people? it´s just an entertainment or it´s a matter of life or death? Can someone tell me about the football culture in Turkey?
Most Turks love football, and when asked will tell you which club they support. There are certainly a lot of football fanatics, and they can become aggressive towards each other when provoked. I´ve witnessed a Fenerbahçe - Beşiktaş derby in Istanbul with 53,000 others at their stadium. Fantastic atmosphere at the match, but the 3,000 opposition supporters were caged in a small corner of the stadium, and surrounded by rows of security guards and a seating gap, and above them was fine netting to prevent objects that may be thrown at them. The opposition fans were bussed to the stadium, to avoid clashes in the local Kadiköy streets with Fenerbahçe fans. Everyone dresses in their teams colours, and all the big teams have their own songs. A lot of supporters have match-day rituals and totems, which they believe gives their team good luck.
"Fenerbahçeliyim" means I am a Fenerbahçe supporter/fan. The 3 big Istanbul based clubs are Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş. Most major cities in Turkey have a football team.
I have also met Turks who have absolutely no interest in football, but it would less likely for males. As for it being a matter of life and death, there have been incidents in the past where people have died after spectator clashes, but this is very rare. Often teams in the Turkish League are punished for bad spectator behavior, by playing matches in front of empty grandstands, or limiting the spectators to women & girls, and children under 12.
Hopefully you get the chance to experience a big football match in Turkey.
Edited (11/6/2015) by Henry
[small error]
Edited (11/6/2015) by Henry
|
