Fenerbahce: Ismail Kartal still head coach despite resigning after Roma game

Ismail Kartal remains head coach of Fenerbahce, despite saying he had resigned following Thursday’s Champions League tie with Roma.

Minutes after the 1-1 home draw, the 65-year-old said he planned never to return to the club he previously served as a player and assistant coach.

But Fenerbahce president Aziz Yildirim later said in a statement on the Turkish club’s website, external he had not accepted Kartal’s resignation.

The club, who face Gaziantep FK in a Turkish Super Lig game on Monday, also confirmed he was still in charge in a statement on Friday.

The statement read:, external “Our team will continue its preparations for the Gaziantep FK match with the training session to be held tomorrow (Saturday) at 11:30 under the direction of our technical director Ismail Kartal.”

Kartal took over for a fourth spell as head coach in June as the club returned to the Champions League for the first time in 18 years.

Before Monday’s game, his side are ninth in the Super Lig with six points from four games and their next Champions League group-phase tie is at Aston Villa on 14 October.

Yildirim confirmed in his earlier statement he spoke to Kartal following the news conference, with the coach citing “pressure” of the role and a mid-match incident where he was struck by a bottle thrown from the stands as factors in his decision.

In a post on social media, the club said a spectator involved in the bottle incident had been identified and banned from the stadium.

“You can’t show support by throwing punches at him like this,” added Yildirim.

“Ismail Kartal doesn’t need to say he’ll continue. I am his senior. I said he’ll continue, and that’s it. We’re a family.”