The chant broke out as Fenerbahce took on Dynamo Kiev
Fenerbahce fans targeted the chant at visitors Dynamo Kiev. © Twitter @botubozkurk
Fans of Turkish football club Fenerbahce were heard chanting the name of Russian President Vladimir Putin during their Champions League qualifying match against Dynamo Kiev in Istanbul on Wednesday night.
The Russian leader’s name was heard reverberating around the Ulker Stadium after Dynamo had taken the lead through Vitaly Buyalsky in the 57th minute of the match.
The Ukrainian midfielder celebrated exuberantly and was described as a making a “provocative gesture” towards the home supporters.
Large sections of the 45,000-strong crowd responded by chanting ‘Vladimir Putin’ in unison, in footage which soon spread online.
Buyalsky’s goal arrived after the home crowd had already been whipped into a frenzy when Fenerbahce midfielder Ismail Yuksek was sent off for a second yellow card just four minutes earlier.
Despite the one-man deficit, Fenerbahce dragged themselves back into contention and had a chance to level from the penalty spot in the 70th minute, but Enner Valencia spurned his opportunity.
Remarkably, the hosts did find the equalizer with just two minutes left of normal time through Hungarian defender Attila Szalai, sending the match to extra time.
Dynamo’s one-man advantage finally told as they went in front again through Alexander Karavayev in the 114th minute, holding on to win 2-1.
That handed Dynamo the tie on aggregate by the same scoreline after the first leg had ended 0-0 last week – a game which was played in Poland because of the conflict in Ukraine.
The two teams had lined up before that match with ‘Stop War’ T-shirts in Ukrainian colors.
After Wednesday’s victory, Dynamo will progress to meet Sturm Graz in the Champions League third qualifying round, while Fenerbahce drop into the Europa League play-off round.
Maç sonucu: Fenerbahçe 1-2 Dinamo Kiev pic.twitter.com/2RZBMcmSGn
— Fenerbahçe SK (@Fenerbahce) July 27, 2022
There was simmering discontent between the two teams after the final whistle as Dynamo’s Romanian manager Mircea Lucescu – a former coach of the Turkish national team who has also worked in Russia – did not appear for his post-match press conference.
According to Turkish outlet Fanatik, Lucescu told broadcasters he was disappointed to hear the Putin chants from the Fenerbahce faithful.
