A Turkish commentator, Alper Bakircigil was dismissed from his commentary duties during the Group F clash between Canada and Morocco at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Bakircigil was running commentary of the game on Turkish public station TRT but drew the ire of the ruling Turkish political establishment when he made reference to Hakan Sukur after Hakim Ziyech scored in the fourth minute.
Ziyech’s effort was the second-fastest goal of the tournament in Qatar behind Canada’s Alphonso Davies in his country’s 4-1 defeat by Croatia.
Retired Turkey International Sukur holds the record of the fastest goal at the World Cup after scoring 11 seconds in the third-place playoff between Turkey and South Korea in 2002.
Sukur is however a very controversial figure in Turkey these days as he became a critic of sitting president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and was accused of playing a part in the failed coup of 2016 that attempted to unseat the president.
He was branded a terrorist and has since been in exile in the United States of America.
Bakircigil mentioning Hakan Sukur’s name did not go down well with TRT whom he was running commentary for and by half-time he was relieved of his duties.
“I was cut off from the TRT institution, where I worked proudly for many years, after the event that took place today. Separation is included in love. Hope to see you again. Goodbye,” Bakircigil said in a Twitter post that has been deleted.
Turkey’s last participation at the World Cup was in 2002 when they reached the semi-finals, losing 1-0 to eventual champions Brazil and ultimately finished fourth in the competition.
