Top Stories

US Soccer: rumors of canceled Turkey friendly are false

Rumors making the rounds on the internet on Friday had the Turkish national team cancelling its scheduled friendly vs. the United States on May 29 in Philadelphia, but the U.S. Soccer Federation called the rumors unfounded.

"We have not been notified by the Turkish federation of any cancellation," said U.S. Soccer spokesman Neil Buethe.

The Turkey friendly, set for Lincoln Financial Field, is the U.S. national team's final home match before departing for South Africa for the 2010 World Cup. The match is one of two friendlies Turkey is playing in the United States, including a match at Red Bull Arena vs. the Czech Republic on May 22nd.

Comments

  1. Okay, that applies to soccer perhaps. But most countries (either governments or sporting federations) did not allow their teams to play against South Africa through the 70s and 1980s.

    I don’t mean not pick an argument over something silly but my point only is that I don’t think it’s true that it is NEVER okay to skip a match for political reasons – it’s that those reasons better be pretty damned good.

    Reply
  2. I’m not sure they were boycotted. They were banned by FIFA for about 30 years because they refused to allow whites and blacks to play on the same team, a violation of FIFA’s anti-discrimination laws. Any team that refuses to play by the rules should be banned. That’s completely different than boycotting a match to make a political point.

    Reply
  3. All this is true. And the Turkish government is free to criticize us for it. But I certainly would hope that USSF won’t go out and cancel the match as a result.

    Reply
  4. he is speaking in regards to the Armenian Genocide spat we have with Turkey. The US and Turkey have tension because Turkey does not want to acknowledge it as a genocide.

    other than that, you are right, the two governments are pals.

    Reply
  5. Political spat? As far as I’m aware, our relations with Turkey aren’t that bad, all things considered… unless there’s something recent I don’t know about

    Reply
  6. If that story’s correct–and I’m sure the story’s total BS–in that Turkish national team players didn’t want to play in the US because of Congress making a resolution, then bring them on…love seeing the guys beat up on sensitive whiners 😛

    Reply
  7. If we can’t put our political differences aside to play a football match, then we can’t put our political differences aside period. No match should ever be called off unless there are valid concerns for player/fan safety.

    Reply
  8. If/when the Turkish federation publicly confirms that the game is on, I think we can believe it’s on. You’d think they would come out to bat the rumor down, though, if it’s not true.

    Reply
  9. If that is the reason then that is fine, but they are only shooting themselves in the foot!

    Also, I don’t think it is sound reasoning to call out another country for their atrocities when the USA and its empire have supported the likes of many dictators that have ended up brutally murdering their own peoples…AHEM…Saddam and we have also been involved in wars or military operations illegally and for unfounded reasons. All in the name of Democracy when the USA itself is not a Democracy. I’m surprised countries don’t protest us for those reasons alone.

    Can we not schedule a friendly with Ireland?? BB and Sunil should be all over this one!!!

    Reply
  10. True but Turkey has other issues with our government as well. Mainly our invasion/occupation of Iraq and our defense of the Kurds whom the Turks view as terrorists. Even Midnight Express pisses them off and that was 30+ years ago. But at this point it’s all a rumor though I can’t say I’d be shocked if the pull out.

    Reply
  11. I don’t think the rumor is true, but the reasoning seems over the top even if it was true. Multiple (something like 20 i think) countries have taken official positions that it was genocide and I wonder if Turkey would never play a friendly in any of those countries…not to mention the US resolution is only from one house of congress, so hardly a strong statement on the part of the government.

    Reply
  12. F*ck the Turks if this is true. 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed. There’s no denying facts. What do the Turks say happened? You don’t see too many Germans denying the Holocaust.

    Reply
  13. I can’t find another live link in English that reports the same story. I even went to gazetreport.com (the source for the story on the linked site) and using my knowledge of the Turkish language I followed an F-1 story to their sports page, where I saw lots of soccer stories, none of which had any shots of the Turkish national team or any hints of the US/America/Armenia, etc. I assume this would be pretty big sports news in a Turkish paper.

    That’s not to say I would be surprised if this happens. They pulled their ambassador (not terribly uncommon, but still), this would be less drastic than that. Anyone know of a situation where FIFA or a regional body sanctioned an FA for cancelling a friendly under the “governmental influence” or whatever prohition (I’m aware that there’s no evidence that the Turkish government is calling off the match, just curious)?

    Reply
  14. “Red Bull Arena for Czech Republic? My ticket says East Hartford…..”

    You wanted tickets to see Turkey Vs. Czech Republic?

    Reply
  15. that website creeps me out. i know it doesn’t reflect your views and you used it just as an example of the reports but that website is basically a propaganda machine. if there’s a chance to pick a better one i would (not trying to be a pain in the behind i swear)

    Reply
  16. I don’t think we know yet whether the Turkey friendly has been canceled. The fact that our federation hasn’t been notified means nothing at all about whether the game will be played.

    (SBI-The lack of a single verifiable news story, out of Turkey or the USA, would suggest the story was a hoax.)

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Justin Cancel reply