Fenerbahce coach Ismail Kartal quit his role with the Turkish club after a spectator threw a water bottle at his head during his side’s 1-1 Champions League draw with Roma on Thursday – only for his president to reject the resignation minutes later. The 65-year-old Kartal told a news conference he was leaving “never to return”, adding that he had taken the decision “to clear the way for the club”. Immediately afterwards, Fenerbahce president Aziz Yildirim told reporters that Kartal “continues in his role”. “Some fans threw a bottle at the coach’s head this evening during the game. He is upset about it,” Yildirim said. “I just spoke to Ismail Kartal.
He mentioned the bottle incident and he also complained about being under pressure.” Asked if Kartal had told him that he would stay, Yildirim said: “There’s no need for him to say (openly) that he’d continue. I am his senior, I told him to continue and that’s it. We are a family.” The Istanbul club said on social media that the person who had thrown a bottle at Kartal had been identified and banned from the stadium. Kartal, who spent a decade at Fenerbahce as a player, coached the club in 2014-15, then on an interim basis in 2021-22 before returning for a full campaign in 2023-24.
He was assistant manager at Fenerbahce the last two times the club won the Super Lig and returned for a fourth managerial spell in June. Fenerbahce have finished second in the Turkish top flight in the last five seasons and reached the league phase of the Champions League this season for the first time in 18 years.
