Events took an ugly turn when Fenerbahce fans started chanting Russian president Vladimir Putin's name at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul after falling behind to Dynamo Kyiv. Fenerbahce and Dynamo Kyiv were locked in a Champions League qualifier where the Ukrainian outfit triumphed 2-1 over the hosts in extra time to progress to the next round.
Ismail Yuksek received a red card and soon Vitaliy Buyalskyi went on to score the opener. Attila Szalai equalised in the dying embers of regulation time but Oleksandr Karavayev scored in the 114th minute to keep the hopes alive for a UEFA Champions League berth for Dynamo.
What happened after Vitaliy Buyalskyi's opener?
After Buyalskiy scored the goal he went towards the Fenerbahce stand and tried to provoke the fans.
This irked the supporters and they started chanting in favour of Putin.
The cheering continued for a few minutes while another set of fans showed their solidarity with Ukraine.
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After the match, Dynamo Kyiv coach, Mircea Lucescu, refused to attend the press conference as a mark of protest.
Will Fenerbahce be punished?
It is yet to be determined whether Fener will face sanctions as a result of the behaviour from certain members of their fan base, but UEFA has confirmed that it will be opening an investigation into the matter.
A statement from European football’s governing body reads: “In accordance with Article 31(4) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations, a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector will conduct a disciplinary investigation regarding alleged misbehaviour of Fenerbahçe supporters during the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round, second leg match between Fenerbahçe SK and FC Dynamo Kyiv played on 27 July 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey.”
The club, meanwhile, has issued a statement saying that it does not condone or support the chants, pointing to the club's support of Ukraine since the start of the crisis and a friendly played against Shakhtar Donetsk to promote peace.
"In the Dynamo Kyiv match played in our field in the UEFA Champions League 2nd qualifying round, after the opposing team's goal, a chant was heard from a part of the stands," the statement said. "We are making this statement against a discourse that does not represent our club and does not reflect our club's corporate stance in any way.
"As Fenerbahçe Sports Club, we always take care to raise awareness on social and humanitarian issues both in our country and in the world with our sphere of influence; We see this as a responsibility.
"Our club was the first club to react to this process on February 24, 2022, the beginning of the war process.
"We would like to emphasize once again our message that we have conveyed through all our official channels: War; It's not bravery, it's cowardice! #Nowar."
What next for Fenerbahce?
After being eliminated from the Champions League qualifiers, the Turkish outfit will try to seal a Europa League berth and will participate in the third qualifying round of the competition.
They are set to lock horns against Czech side Slovacko on August 4 at home in the first leg of the tie.