The decision of the Greek authorities not to allow the Turkish football team Galatasaray to enter the country led to the cancellation of the planned friendly match with Olympiakos Piraeus.
The entry ban was made following a decision of the Deputy Minister of Civil Protection, Nikos Hardalia, as, according to a relevant announcement, the Turkish team refused to submit its players to additional rapid tests for the coronavirus.
In a statement, Galatasaray spoke of arrogant behavior by the Greek authorities, arguing that Greek officials did not accept the demonstration of PCR tests, although there is a protocol between the two countries for mutual recognition of PCR tests.
At the same time, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoλουlu had a telephone conversation with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, talking about "arbitrary" behavior suffered by the Galatasaray football team at the Athens airport. Monday afternoon.
On the occasion of the incident, the Greek Deputy Minister of Civil Protection and Crisis Management made a statement who, among other things, notes: "in the case of Galatasaray, the QR code of PLF showed a mandatory rapid test for all incoming. The Civil Protection activated its mechanism, so that there are additional crews so that the Turkish mission does not suffer with expectations, but it refused to undergo a rapid test in accordance with the provisions of the current Greek legislation. Given their refusal, by my order, the members of the mission were not allowed to enter our country ".
Greece shows its intolerance towards Turkey with its attitude towards Galatasaray, the Turkish Foreign Minister said in a statement, while the coach of the Turkish team, Fatih Terim, returning to Turkey, revealed that even Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had contacted him. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Tsavousoglou has just decided to return from Athens. Turkish media report that the Turkish Foreign Minister contacted his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias.
According to an announcement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the Galatasaray football team went to Athens by private plane yesterday (July 12) to play a friendly match with the Greek Olympic football team on the afternoon of July 13, 2021. "It is far from good intentions and courtesy of the PCR tests performed by our team and the results of which were negative should not be considered valid and the whole team should be asked to take the test again. Due to this arbitrary approach and bad behavior, our team rightly returned to our country without entering Greece. The fact that Greece welcomes one of the leading teams of our country with such an attitude shows its intolerance towards our country, even in the field of sports "
Tsavousoglou contacted Dendia
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoλουlu wrote on his Twitter account that "the treatment which is far from the good intention and courtesy that our Galatasaray football team faced in Greece is unacceptable." According to Turkish media sources, the Turkish Foreign Minister had a telephone conversation on the issue with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias.
Fatih Terim: Erdogan contacted us immediately
Galatasaray coach Fatih Terim described the incident at the Athens airport as a comedy, saying that as soon as they made the decision to return, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoλουlu contacted them immediately.
Speaking at Istanbul airport, the Galatasaray coach said that Galatasaray is a team that knows the world rules very well, especially in Europe and is one of the most experienced teams in the world.
"We all did our tests 24 hours before we left. We all went with the tests in our hands. When we got off we were told that we would do a rapid test. First we need to know this, based on the agreements made between the two countries, there is mutual recognition of results in the two countries but they asked us to do a rapid test. And when we asked the reason we were told that we started the application. We were told that it is not for everyone, but sampling. I also did a test. They also take a photo of the pcr test we are holding in our hand. For some they said no need, and went out. We said some came out, they said there are some who left without taking a test. Call everyone, everyone will take a test. Eventually there were our players who got them off the buses and called them back. The behavior was not friendly ".
"We believe our decision to return was the right one. The interest of our President was not lacking either. We thank him unconditionally. Listening to their voice makes us feel stronger. We said we're coming back. We said that it is more correct to return. Making our decision to return immediately, our President, our Foreign Minister, our Minister of Sports, our Ambassador and our Consul contacted us first. After we made our decision we were still told to come together to take the test. They asked for our passports. When we asked the reason we were told they would deport us. And we said we do not give our passports. While we were thinking about returning, it took a few hours. Our players got bored, tired and hungry. There was no food, no water. Then they gave it to us. Not staying there was the right decision. Our friends of the Olympiacos team ran to help but nothing happened. The owner of Olympiakos called me. He told me that what happened had nothing to do with them, I thanked him. This behavior was not good at all, we are not people who bow their heads, we are not a club. It was a comedy. We had never encountered such a thing before, we met it today. We did what we had to do. "If it happened tomorrow we would do the same again," he said.
Elmas: We expect an apology from Greece
Galatasaray President Burak Elmas wrote on his Twitter account that they expect Greece to apologize. "As a Board of Directors, as a result of the evaluations we made with our coach, we decided to return our team immediately. We expect on behalf of the Greek authorities to apologize to our country for this violation of human rights ".
Condemns the Turkish Football Federation
In a statement, the Turkish Football Federation states that "despite the fact that Galatasaray, who went to Greece for the friendly match with Olympiakos, fulfilled all the required procedures, the behavior they faced after landing in Athens was unacceptable. We condemn this attitude of the Greek authorities, which does not suit the spirit of sports and we declare that we support the Galatasaray Sports Club ".
Source: KYPE