Galatasaray Slams VAR Referee Erkan Engin Ahead of Gençlerbirliği Clash

Ahead of their matchday 8 away fixture against Gençlerbirliği in the Trendyol Süper Lig, Galatasaray publicly criticized the appointment of Erkan Engin as VAR referee for the encounter. The club issued a statement through its official channels, listing a series of controversial decisions Engin has been involved in during past matches. Galatasaray also announced it would be closely monitoring the referee's performance throughout the game.

In the statement, Galatasaray recalled that during the 2023-2024 season's Fenerbahçe-Kasımpaşa match, Engin had made a controversial VAR intervention that called referee Cihan Aydın to the monitor, ultimately resulting in a penalty awarded to Fenerbahçe. The club also pointed to last season's Fenerbahçe-Karagümrük match, where a similarly contentious VAR decision again led to a penalty in Fenerbahçe's favor. Additionally, Galatasaray referenced the Trabzonspor-Galatasaray match, in which Engin called referee Cihan Aydın to review a Barış Alper Yılmaz incident, though the on-field decision was ultimately left unchanged.

According to the statement, this will mark the seventh time this season that Erkan Engin has served as a VAR referee in the Süper Lig. Galatasaray further noted that this would be the third occasion this season a VAR official has been assigned to one of Gençlerbirliği's home matches—two as VAR and one as AVAR. The club pointed out that Engin had served as AVAR in Gençlerbirliği's home fixture just last week, meaning the same official has now been assigned to the same team's home matches in consecutive weeks.

Galatasaray concluded its statement by affirming it would be watching the match and the officiating closely. The club stated that it holds the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) responsible for any refereeing errors that may occur during the game. The statement has once again brought scrutiny to referee assignments in the Süper Lig into public focus.