The title of the article I wrote in Cumhuriyet Ege on August 18, 2025, after the Super League match played at Göztepe Gürsel Aksel Stadium in Izmir in August 2025, was as follows: "Göz Göz managed to leave the field with a point despite the referee and VAR".
That referee is none other than Yasin Kol, who is now in custody and whose interesting correspondence has been revealed, and who draws his strength from being close to the TFF president! What beautiful work! Make trouble with the MHK President who was detained again, put whatever you want on the screen in the referee position, and bring whatever you want to 'harmony' with him! Let the TFF President assign you to the match of the big teams you do not deserve, and you design the environment as necessary!
The 'partnership' between the referee and the VAR referee in the Göztepe-FB match in question caught my attention, and although it is not my custom, two days after my article on August 18, I wrote another article focusing on the referee and the VAR referee of this match: "The referee and VAR lessons from the Göztepe-FB match".
I am shortening that article below because it is a historical document and also mirrors the current operation:
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"1) Not having a water break in both halves of the match in extreme heat and humidity was a big handicap! 2) Göztepe is a team that uses long throw-ins. Come on, you gave a yellow card to captain İsmail, who came out of the hut and warned the security guards standing close to the line on the field, asking for his friend who was going to take the throw-in to get nervous! What's the point of taking the second one quickly and turning the card into red!?.
Both of these attitudes of Kol smell complex, express the ego, and contain a utilitarian dimension.
DUDEN, TRABZON REGION REFEREE, SHIELDING WITH HIS CITIZEN CITIZEN, TFF PRESIDENT
Let's get to know Kol better... He is from Trabzon. He graduated from Sürmene High School. His main profession is security guard, and he served as the 4th referee in the Super League for the first time on March 3, 2019. He has been officiating matches as the referee since the 2020-2021 season. Even though it was announced in 2024 that he was deemed insufficient by the Turkish Football Federation and was relegated to the lower class, he somehow started to win Super League matches again with his compatriot Hacıosmanoğlu the following year. It is also claimed that he is a relative of TFF President İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu, but I could not fully confirm it. There is no UEFA and FIFA Badge. Born on December 15, 1987, Kol has been a referee since 2008. There are many faulty and poorly managed matches.
THE REFEREE IN VAR, WHO LATER BECAME "ÖZÜTOPRAK"
The VAR referee of the Göztepe-FB match, Onur Özütoprak, born in Balıkesir on April 1, 1983, was like an April 1 joke in the match! He started refereeing in the Istanbul Region in 2004. Besides being a football referee, she is also a pilates instructor. He started his referee career in the Super League in 2015.
Özütoprak grew up in an environment close to sports, thanks to the influence of his father, Necdet Karabaş, who was a football player. However, he continued his interest in sports in a different field by switching from football to referee. In 2018, he changed his surname and started using his wife's surname "Özütoprak" instead of his father's surname "Karabaş"! An interesting situation! We have seen that Özer Uçuran, the wife of former prime minister Tansu Çiller, added her husband's surname to her own, but we have never seen this before! Özütoprak, who made a name for himself especially with the matches in which he served as a VAR referee, also served as a VAR referee in BJK and GS matches, apart from FB. This is also remarkable.
WHAT THEY DID AND DID NOT DO IN THREE ARTICLES
What Özütoprak did and did not do to prevent the match is as follows: 1) In the 3rd minute of the match, FB's Ambrabat stepped on Göztepe center forward Janderson's foot with his sole in the penalty area. Referee Kol said "continue". However, there was no suggestion from VAR to watch! 2) In the 42nd minute, during the fight between Duran from FB and Arda from Göztepe, Duran violently shook his elbow towards Arda's face like a weapon. Kol punished this action, which required a direct red card, with a yellow card, and moreover, he also punished Arda, who verbally objected to this situation, with a yellow card! VAR did not recommend monitoring Duran's elbow either! 3) During the extra time of the match, during the fight between Miroshi and Cenk in the Göztepe penalty area, the referee Kol did not blow the whistle and continued the game. However, with the extreme objection of FB football players, he received a monitoring recommendation from VAR. While I was watching, I said "he will definitely point to the 'penalty' spot" and indeed he did (Göztepe goalkeeper Lis saved Talisca's penalty and the match ended 0-0)!
SHARE OF THE STORY
TFF must now put an end to biased match management and should never allow referees to get ahead of the match or affect the score. Referees who cross the line should be taken away from their whistle.
Göztepe management should definitely not accept Kol and Özütoprak in their matches from now on and should declare them persona non grata.
Referees who have recently ended their active football refereeing in VAR and have UEFA and FIFA licenses should be given priority duties.
"TFF and MHK should warn the referees to monitor the positions closely and make critical decisions other than offside, without leaving it to VAR."
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Now, when I look back, I think I wrote very mercifully and with more restraint than necessary! It turns out that a network has actually been formed in TFF, but we only learn about it with the operation these days. An order based on FB, GS, BJK, TS, which is also intertwined with betting! The other teams are almost side elements, extras!
FOOTBALL SHOULD BE MANAGED BY FOOTBALL FIGURES
Will this system ever elect Uğur Meleke as TFF President? In fact, the moment he or someone else who shares his reform proposals leaves his mark on the TFF, it will be the liberation holiday of Turkish football. The delegates who will determine the management of TFF are retired coaches with certain seniority, national football players, referees, etc. It must be selected from a scale distributed among the leagues among the elements. Sports writer, sports director etc. Elements should also be able to delegate to a certain extent. Football should be managed by figures from within football.
