Robin Van Persie Banned For ‘Insulting’ Besiktas By Celebrating Goal Directly In Front Of Opposing Defender (Video)

Chris Wright

13th, February 2017

6 Comments

van-persie-celebration-fener

The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) have given Robin van Persie (RVP) a two-match ban after the Fenerbahce striker’s behaviour was deemed to have been “insulting” during last Sunday’s cup game against Besiktas.

Van Persie began by hitting the deck to get Besiktas centre-back Dusko Tosic sent off, before becoming embroiled in a verbal altercation with Tosic’s defensive partner Oguzhan Ozyakup.

Later in the game, Van Persie popped up at the far post to score the only goal of the game and duly celebrated by sprinting over to Ozyakup and celebrating in his face…

Van Persie – a 33-year-old adult male, remember – was initially banned for three matches for what the TFF described as “an insult to opposing fans”, but the suspension has since been reduced to two matches on appeal.

That hasn’t stopped fan store Fenerium producing a commemorative t-shirt of the incident…

rvp-tshirt

Photo: @fenerium/Twitter

Just to cap it all off as the childish farce it truly is, Ozyakup – who briefly played alongside Van Persie at Arsenal in 2011/12 – also announced that he’s officially no longer friends with the Dutch forward.

Talking to the press after the match, the 24-year-old whimpered:

I was very good friends with a certain player on the field.

That changed today. Sometimes you see the real face of a footballer on the field.

Astounding.

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6 Comments

  1. Si says:

    The Turks are a sensitive lot, eh? “Ban him” and “I’m not your friend anymore,” really?! Bless them.

    That said, it serves Van Persie right for choosing to see out the final few years of an otherwise wholly successful career in a truly mediocre league just for the money.

    It will be interesting to see what happens to the Turkish league now that players are flooding to China en masse, as the league is no longer the meal ticket than it was once seen to be. Teams like Fenerbahce, Galatasary and Beşiktaş would probably struggle in the Championship nowadays, so lord only knows what will happen when the league stops being able to attract foreign talent.

  2. @Chris Wright Did you watch the match? Well, I did.

    Van Persie might have been a great player once upon a time; however, he is no longer a sort of player he used to be but a pathetic clown. On that night, throughout the match, he trolled the opposing players, fans and the game itself. On that night, he was not on the pitch to play football.

    In 2003, Pascal Nouma, a former Beşiktaş player, put his left hand in his shorts to celebrate a goal that he scored in a league match against Fenerbahçe. Because of that stupid and shameful act, Beşiktaş terminated his contract immediately after the match and released a press statement regarding the incident. On top of that, TFF banned him from all competitions in Turkey for 7 months. Van Persie did something like Nouma did as part of his sorry antics, yet he just received a 3-match ban, reduced to 2 later by the equally pathetic disciplinary committee.

    Van Persie definitely deserved more than a 3-match ban.

    @Si If I were you, I would avoid making generalisations about a nation.

  3. Murad says:

    @Si – totally agree. Ozyakup used to brag about how he was good mates with Van Persie during his Arsenal years. Ozyakup even claimed Van Persie was his mentor and that he saw him as his older brother. So Van Persie making that cheeky move was probably an answer to an exchange of insult in the earlier minutes of the game. For those who don’t know Ozyakup’s personality; he is famous for starting fights with older players and received 11 yellow cards last year. A world-class player having a go at a fellow dutch 24 year old minnow can be somewhat explained given this is a fierce Istanbul derby game. Ozyakup is a cry-baby. Van Persie’s 3 match ban is understandable given how close Besiktas President is with Erdogan and how Erdogan hates Fenerbahce President.

  4. Jarren says:

    Indeed, Si. Now that not just the MLS but also China can attract high-profile players of a certain age (and even still in their 20’s), it does not bode well for the lesser European leagues.

    Personally, I see nothing wrong with what RVP did.

    He would not do such a thing without prior provocation, besides.

  5. Si says:

    A Beşiktaş Fan – I am not making generalisations about a nation, rather those who are involved in football. That should have been clear from the above, but no matter.

    What it boils down to is that this is a complete non-issue and another example of the general over-the-top approach to otherwise trivial matters that are taken by certain footballing authorities, such as the one in Turkey. This is coming from someone that is not even a Van Persie fan. “Trolling” is not a banned act and it happens in every league all over the world.

    As for Pascal Nouma getting banned for putting his hand in his shorts – Jesus wept. That is so completely disproportionate to the act that I actually feel sorry for him. It is laughable.

    Unfortunately, I suspect that due to the violent rivalries between the top Turkish teams, the Turkish FA feel obliged to adopt such a ridiculous line with players to avoid fans (and I appreciate that you will not be one of these) trying to kill one another due to being “disrespected” by an opposition’s player.

  6. Bruno says:

    Cheers, Robin!

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