Police intervened after a child wearing a Fenerbahçe shirt was subjected to reactions from some fans in the Gençlerbirliği stand during the Trendyol Süper Lig match between Gençlerbirliği and Fenerbahçe.
Deputy Commissioner Uğur Yurduseven, who serves with the Yunuslar Motorcycle Police Teams Directorate of the Ankara Police Department, took the child out of the stands in his arms and brought him to a safe area. Images of the incident attracted attention on social media.
He took the child from his father
Yurduseven said he noticed that the tension in the stands was turning toward the child and went to the boy’s father, asking him to hand the child over so that a more serious incident could be prevented.
Yurduseven said they had to make their way through the fans with the child in his arms, adding that his greatest concern at that moment was that the child might be harmed. He said he made eye contact with one person who was reacting and warned him not to turn his behavior into violence.
Deputy Commissioner Yurduseven said he told the person that any action could endanger the lives of the child, himself or another citizen.
He gave the child a police T-shirt
Yurduseven said the child kept asking questions, became stressed and was sweating during the incident, adding that he was also affected by what happened. He said he found the child’s trembling upsetting and felt greatly relieved after safely leaving the stands.
Yurduseven said he asked the child to remove his shirt so that he would not become a target again, and requested a T-shirt from a police officer serving alongside him so the child would not feel cold because he was sweaty.
Yurduseven said he had earlier told the child that he would become a police officer. He added that when they returned wearing the police T-shirt, the child asked whether anyone would be angry with him. The deputy commissioner said he told the child that no one could harm him anymore and that he, too, was a police officer, adding that the child felt strong.
Congratulations for Yurduseven
Yurduseven thanked the citizens who helped him during the incident and said that police officers could not perform their duties without the support of citizens.
Speaking about Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi congratulating him, Yurduseven said receiving thanks and appreciation from an elder was valuable in his professional life.
Statement from Gençlerbirliği
In a statement issued after the incident, Gençlerbirliği said that targeting a child wearing a Fenerbahçe shirt in the stands was incompatible with the club’s values. The club condemned the incident, saying that a child wearing the opposing team’s shirt was, above all, one of their own children.
The statement expressed solidarity with the distress experienced by the young fan and his family, and said the club stood for every spectator’s right to feel safe in the stands and for the love of football. The club also announced that it wanted to host the child and his family at its facilities.
Sports security meeting
Efforts to ensure peace and security at sporting events were also discussed at the Sports Security Assessment Meeting held ahead of the 2026–2027 football season.
At the meeting on July 23, attended by Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi and Minister of Youth and Sports Osman Aşkın Bak, participants assessed ways to strengthen peace and security at matches, prevent violence and disorder in sport, improve cooperation among institutions and develop sports security strategies for the new season.
Çiftçi highlighted the unifying power of sport at the meeting and said that fans would not be allowed to be pitted against one another or sport to be used as a tool for provocations.
