Turkish football club MKE Ankaragucu have defended their former president Faruk Koca as being the “target of one-sided public perception” after he was sentenced to more than three years in prison for assaulting a referee last year.

A Turkish court has sentenced a former top-flight soccer club executive to more than three and a half years in prison for attacking a referee on the field at the end of a league game match last season

A former high-ranking Turkish soccer executive was handed down a lengthy prison sentence on Monday in the aftermath of his attack on a referee last season. A Turkish court sentenced former Ankaragucu team president Faruk Koca to more than three years in prison after he was convicted for an assault on referee Halil Umut Meler following a Super Lig contest against Caykur Rizespor last year.