The Kayseri Atatürk Stadium disaster refers to an occurrence of

football hooliganism Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting, constitutes violence and other destructive behaviors perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism typically involves ...

, resulting in 43 deaths and at least 300 injuries (according to newspaper ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is a major List of newspapers in Turkey, Turkish newspaper, founded in 1948. it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' combines entertainment with news coverage and ...

''s headline 600), during the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

match held on September 17, 1967 between the clubs of

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

and

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Net Global Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department has competed in Süper Lig since t ...

at the Atatürk Stadium of

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It was known as the worst sports-related violence to occur in Turkey.
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Matchday

The match was abandoned following the events that broke out after the goal scored by Kayserispor's Oktay Aktan in the 20th minute. After the goal tensions rose in the stands and on the pitch. Sivasspor

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

Hilmi Kiremitçi was later banned for his misconduct by the

Turkish Football Federation The Turkish Football Federation (; TFF) is the governing body of association football in Turkey. It was formed on 23 April 1923, and joined FIFA the same year and UEFA in 1962. It organizes the Turkey national football team, the Turkish Foo ...

(TFF). Provocative conduct by a Kayserispor ''

Amigo Amigo(s) (Portuguese and Spanish for ''male friend'') may refer to: People * Carlos Amigo Vallejo (1934–2022), Spanish Roman Catholic archbishop emeritus of Seville Places Facilities * Amigos School, a bilingual primary school in Cambridge, M ...

'' at half-time was not helpful either. Supporters of the two teams throwing rocks at each other, and fans fleeing the violence in panic caused a stampede in front of the stand exits. As the exit gates opened inward, many fans died because they were crushed and suffocated. The match was abandoned after the first half.

Aftermath

The events in the stadium were then followed by vandalism in Kayseri and days of riots in

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

. Inadequate security measures were amongst the reasons for the disaster. Prior to the game six Sivasspor fans were arrested. After the match eight Sivasspor and 18 Kayserispor spectators were arrested. Both the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

as the Governor of Kayseri as well as and the

Chief of Police A chief of police (COP) is the title given to an appointed official or an elected one in the command hierarchy, chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. A chief of police may also be known as a police chief or somet ...

in Kayseri had to leave their job. In addition, the events that took place in the match between Kayseri Havagücü and Sivas 4 Eylül – two Kayseri Havagücü footballers breaking their legs and the Kayseri side leaving the field a week earlier – can be considered as a reason for the events that occurred in this match.Sivas-Kayserı – Türkiye'nin en büyük futbol faciası. Kenan Başaran 2017. İletişim Yayınları. The TFF suspended the games in the White Group of the competition for a week. Consequently, both teams were deemed defeated and were sanctioned with a seventeen home games ban. The teams were separated in different groups until 1991. This match went down in football history as the 1967 Kayseri Atatürk Stadium disaster.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kayseri Ataturk Stadium disaster Sport in Kayseri Kayseri Erciyesspor Sivasspor 1967 in Turkey Man-made disasters in Turkey Crowd collapses and crushes in stadiums Association football riots 1967 riots Association football hooliganism Riots and civil disorder in Turkey History of Kayseri History of Sivas History of football in Turkey

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

1967 crimes in Turkey 1967 disasters in Turkey Crowd collapses and crushes in Asia September 1967 in Asia