One tradition that American sports fans hardly — if ever — utilize is lighting flares for sporting events. Whenever I see fanbases in certain parts of Europe light up their stadiums in a fearsome red glow, I diagnose myself with severe F.O.M.O.
Look at these Galatasaray flares and tell me it wouldn’t be cool to experience this atmosphere at least once.
Opposing players and staff working on the field probably dread seeing those fiery sticks set alight and knowing that the flares will come raining down in a matter of moments. I wonder if avoiding fireballs is listed as an occupational hazard for playing professional soccer in countries like Greece and Turkey.
On Sunday one of the world's biggest rivalries took place when Galatasaray hosted Fenerbahçe. The Intercontinental Derby is the Turkish equivalent of El Clásico, and a match like this would typically see a ludicrous amount of flares in the stands that would eventually be thrown on the field.
The stadium sat empty this time around as the Turkish Süper Lig plans to allow spectators to return to stadiums in October with 30% capacity limits.
But in a stunning feat, Sunday's match still ended up being postponed for several minutes due to a flare making its way onto the field.
Galatasaray vs. Fenerbahce was halted when a flare thrown from outside the stadium landed on the pitch pic.twitter.com/ULflmc6NeN
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 28, 2020
When I first saw this tweet I thought to myself: “Did they get Patrick Mahomes to chuck a flare over the stadium?”
After some quick research I discovered that the match was played at Türk Telekom Arena. The stadium is about 230 feet tall, so how the hell did someone manage to get a flare over the wall?
Two words: Turkish artillery.
How the flare got inside the stadium at Galatasaray vs Fenerbahce.pic.twitter.com/gDn0R1OfvC
— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) September 27, 2020
Just your average Istanbul derby
— 433 (@433) September 27, 2020
The match ended 0-0 but at least the supporters did everything in their power to spice things up.
