Faruk Koca, the football club president who on December 11 rocked Turkish soccer when, in a fury after the final whistle, he punched a referee to the ground, has announced his resignation.

Koca strode on to the field and struck the referee, Halil Umut Meler, in the face after his Ankara team MKE Ankaragucu conceded a 97th minute stoppage-time equaliser in their stadium to Caykur Rizespor in a Super Lig match. Photos show Meler, one of Turkey’s top referees, curled up on the pitch with his arms over his head to protect himself as various people, thought to include fans who ran on to the field after the punch was thrown, repeatedly kicked him.

Violence has long been associated with Turkish football. Matches frequently require a heavy police presence. Last September, a fan leapt on to a pitch and violently kicked a Besiktas player following a match against Ankaragucu. In 2012, Fenerbahce fans set their stadium in Istanbul alight after losing the championship. 

"Football is not only football," Ozgehan Senuva, professor of international relations at Ankara's Middle East Technical University, told the BBC, adding: "This is only a reflection of the general social situation in Turkey."

"People don't trust the referees and how the referees are appointed. That goes in parallel with the low levels of trust in the judicial system," Senuva was also quoted as saying. Of Koca, he said: "This is who he is. And this is the culture of [his] club as well. They are proud of being tough guys: it's part of the club's DNA."

Turkey’s interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, said on X that Koca, a 59-year-old former member of parliament who represented an Ankara district for almost a decade as a lawmaker of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), of which he is still a member, went for treatment “under the supervision of our security forces”.

Justice minister Yilmaz Tunc said Koca, who suffers from heart disease, had been arrested and questioned along with two others who were seen on video rushing on to the pitch. Turkish daily Cumhuriyet reported that Koca along with two other suspects was taken to Sincan prison outside Ankara.

Middle East Eye described Koca as an old friend of Erdogan. The publication also reported that in 2006 Koca was instrumental in rescuing Erdogan when he was accidentally locked in his car while falling unconscious, after a drop in his blood sugar level. Koca is said to have smashed the car window, striking it with a hammer for 10 minutes until he got in.

The shocking end-of-match violence sparked the indefinite suspension of all domestic Turkish football matches. Erdogan, a former semi-professional footballer and prominent football fan, denounced the attack, saying sport “is incompatible with violence”.

Some Turkish newspapers referred to the incident as "Turkish football's dark night".

Head of the Turkish football federation, Mehmet Buyukeksi, was reported by Milliyet as saying after an emergency meeting. “We postponed all matches indefinitely – we say enough!” He added: “No one should get hit like this. Do not devalue Turkish football any further. Let’s not disgrace Turkish football internationally, enough is enough!”

Meler was described by local reports as wearing a padded neck brace, his face swollen. His doctor told reporters that the 37-year-old had suffered a fracture above his left eye and that he was under medical observation for a traumatic head injury, but the injuries were not life-threatening.

Meler reportedly told a group of referees who visited him in hospital that the attack marked the end of his career, saying: “This job is over for me, I can’t continue any more.”

Koca said in a statement posted on his club’s website that he was deeply saddened that "the club I manage, the football community, and our country are remembered with such an event and image". He apologised to Meler, his family and the wider Turkish nation for his attitude.