Von Patrick Keddie
Turkish football has always been political. When Fuat Hüsnü Kayacan formed the first Turkish-Muslim team – the Black Stockings – in 1903 he was charged in a military court with “setting up goal posts, wearing the same uniforms as Greeks, and kicking balls around.”
The Ottomans had banned Turkish-Muslims from playing the sport as they were suspicious of an activity that was introduced by British expats, and taken up by Armenians, Greeks, and Jews. Some Ottomans believed football violated Islamic codes as the players wore shorts, and some associated the game with the killing of Husayn Ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed in 680, whose decapitated head was kicked around like a football. Others simply found running after a ball an odd way to behave and worthy of contempt.
Yet, the growing Turkish passion for football could not be repressed. Within the next few years the great Istanbul teams Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, and Galatasaray were formed, as political reforms allowed more scope for Turkish-Muslims to play.
The authorities noted the growing popularity of the sport and attempted to harness its power to help build Turkish nationalism.