21 players go on strike against former Bayern Munich coach: former third-division club Türkgücü München sinks into chaos
Türkgücü Munich are in crisis. For now. Because all the lights could soon go out. In the thick of it is coach Slaven Skeledzic, who once assisted Miroslav Klose at mighty Bayern Munich.
Fielding a team made up mainly of under-19 players, Türkgücü lost 6-1 to Wacker München in the Landesliga Südost the weekend before last. The players who should have been on the pitch sat outside in tracksuits on wooden benches and watched. They had gone on strike.
The players insisted their boycott targeted coach Slaven Skeledzic alone, not the club. "Our aim was not, and is not, to harm the club, but to bring about a change so that we can once again play football together for Türkgücü München with joy and complete conviction," the players said in a statement.
There had reportedly been trouble a week earlier, after the 3-0 defeat to bottom-of-the-table Eggenfelden. The players' protest is understood to be against the coach's heavy-handed approach. Reports in Bild allege that 54-year-old Skeledzic ordered young players to arrive early for training and shouted at players.
Last Friday, Türkgücü called off their away match against VfB Hallbergmoos-Goldach. The players reportedly learned of the cancellation from a notice issued by the Bavarian Football Association (BFV), rather than an internal announcement.
"We wanted to play and were ready. When we saw the cancellation, we were all stunned," captain Burhan Bahadir told FuPa. The team had completed two training sessions without the coach to prepare for the away match in the north of Munich.
Club management threaten action
Skeledzic and the club's management closed ranks, rejecting the team's accusations. "I have a very strong sense of justice. And this man is being accused unjustly," Türkgücü chairman Ertürk Alagöz told Bild. "I would rather shut down operations than give in to these players."
The coach described the team's actions as "completely excessive".
On Sunday afternoon, the club's board accused players and an "overheated environment" in a statement on Instagram. "Some senior players, for example, deliberately agreed among themselves not to follow the match tactics and, of course, caused chaos on the pitch as a result," it said.
Main sponsor Alagöz Holding also announced its withdrawal. The club reserved the right to take action against the striking players: "This behaviour, which is damaging to the club, will not be tolerated. The board will therefore use every means at its disposal to counter it and prevent further damage to Türkgücü München."
What did coach Slaven Skeledzic say about the players' boycott?
On Monday, Skeledzic gave his perspective in a lengthy statement. He sharply criticised the striking players and thanked the club's management and the sponsor.
"The training and match boycott raised by 21 players is one of the most disappointing experiences of my coaching career so far. It was an unjustifiable action. The boycotting players have caused serious harm to the club and to me personally. Just because there are 21 players does not mean their account becomes 'more correct'," Skeledzic wrote. He reserved the right to take "legal action" against "those involved".
Türkgücü München e.V. was formed in 2001 after SV Türk Gücü München became insolvent. After three successive titles, the club played in the 3. Liga in 2020/21. Financial problems forced the Munich club to cease playing at the end of March the following season, after 31 matchdays. They subsequently fell as far as the sixth-tier Landesliga.
Between 2018 and 2022, Skeledzic worked as Miroslav Klose's assistant coach with Bayern Munich's under-17s and at the German record champions' youth academy. He later followed Klose to his first appointment as head coach at SCR Altach in Austria. He has coached Türkgücü München since the end of March.
