ANKARA: UEFA said on Thursday it will start a disciplinary investigation against Turkey’s Fenerbahce over a group of its fans chanting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s name after conceding a goal at home to Dynamo Kiev in a Champions League qualifier.

Fenerbahce’s hopes of competing in Europe’s elite Champions League competition this season were dashed by a 2-1 extra-time loss to Kiev in the second qualifying round tie in Istanbul on Wednesday.

Vitaliy Buyalskyi put the Ukrainian side ahead in the 57th minute, shortly after Fenerbahce midfielder Ismail Yuksek was sent off in a tense match.

The game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes but Kiev knocked out Fenerbahce with a 114th-minute winner by Oleksandr Karavaev.

Buyalskyi’s celebration after scoring was met with chants of “Vladimir Putin” by many Fenerbahce fans, prompting an online backlash condemning the Istanbul side’s fans and calling on European governing body UEFA to take action against the club.

UEFA said an “Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector will conduct a disciplinary investigation regarding alleged misbehaviour of Fenerbahce supporters” at the Dynamo Kiev match, adding further information would be made available later.

Vasyl Bodnar, Ukrainian Ambassador to Ankara, said on Twitter he was saddened by the chants but thanked those who stood against the “inappropriate actions” of the fans. “Football is a fair game. Dynamo Kiev was stronger yesterday,” he said.

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb 24, calling it a “special military operation” to rid Ukraine of fascists, an assertion the Ukrainian government and its Western allies said was a baseless pretext for an unprovoked war.

Bodnar added that it was “very saddening” to hear the reaction of the Fenerbahce fans at a time when civilians in Ukraine were dying in Russian attacks on the country.

The Russian embassy declined to comment.

In a statement on Thursday, Fenerbahce said the chants made by “some” fans did not represent the club, its position, or its views, adding that it stood firmly against the war in Ukraine.

Fenerbahce said the chants lasted 20 seconds and were prompted by the “exaggerated” celebrations of some Kyiv players after the goal.

“Whatever the reason may be, we as the Fenerbahce Sport Club absolutely reject the reaction coming from parts of our stands,” the club said, adding it was unfair to put blame on all its fans or the club for an act that “never represents our values.”

Putin’s name is associated in Kiev with both the five-month invasion and a Kremlin-backed separatist conflict that has claimed more than 14,000 lives in Ukraine’s southeast since 2014.

Putin now questions the Ukrainian nation’s right to exist and brands its leaders as “Nazis” who must be deposed.

Dynamo’s irate Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu refused to attend the mandatory post-match press conference in protest at the chant.

“I did not expect such a chant,” he said in a statement released to Turkish media. “It is a pity.”

Turkey is generally popular among many Ukrainians because of its military support for Kiev’s Western-backed government.

The Ukrainian army has used Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2 combat drones to attack Russian armoured columns and slow the Kremlin’s push into the Donbas war zone in the east.

Ukraine now has a “Bayraktar” radio station and the drones feature in popular songs.

The private company said on Thursday it was donating another drone to Ukraine in response to a fundraising effort in Poland aimed at collecting millions of dollars for the purchase of one of the unmanned aerial vehicles on Kiev’s behalf.

The Ukrainian ambassador thanked Turkey’s drone makers in another tweet.

“Bayraktar will remain a symbol of friendship between our countries for many years,” Bodnar wrote.

But Turkish media report that Putin has suggested to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Russia — in search of better combat drone support — start producing the Bayraktars to help its own war effort.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not deny the offer when asked about it by reporters on Wednesday.

“Military and technological cooperation is always on the two countries’ agenda,” Peskov said.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2022