Ismail Kartal to quit Fenerbahçe after Roma draw as club accept resignation | OneFootball

Ismail Kartal will leave Fenerbahçe after announcing his intention to resign on Thursday following a 1-1 home draw with Roma, with the club accepting on Friday. He was appointed only this summer.

According to L'Équipe, president Aziz Yildirim initially insisted he would not let the 65-year-old go and said he remained in charge on Thursday night.

On Friday morning assistants led training while Kartal was unreachable. He later attended a meeting and restated his wish to depart, mirroring Trabzonspor coach Fatih Tekke 10 days earlier.

After the match Yildirim linked Kartal's anger to bottles of water thrown towards him. Some in Türkiye saw that as a smokescreen. Spor claims allegations of talks with other coaches had irritated Kartal.

His start was mixed, with a first Champions League qualification since 2008, after eliminating Lyon in the play-offs, offset by two league defeats, on opening day and in the 1-2 derby at Besiktas on 5 September.

Fans had wanted him back after the José Mourinho spell in 2024/2025 and post-Domenico Tedesco in 2025/2026, and they remembered 2023/2024, a record 99 points and fluent football. He now says he never intends to return, ending a fourth spell after 2014/2015, 2022 and 2023/2024. Fenerbahçe have not won the league since 2012.

Source: L'Équipe

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