Emenike booed by fans!

The striker sensationally asked to be substituted
over the weekend following fan abuse, and may
well have burnt his bridges in Istanbul. What
could have precipitated this reaction?
The experience of Manchester United in Istanbul
building up to their tie against Galatasaray in
1993 was an instructive expose into the (in this
case, somewhat ill-channelled) passion of the
Turkish football fan. The famous “Hell” into which
Sir Alex Ferguson’s men were welcomed may
have been figurative, but it burns with the same
eternal promise of its more literal Biblical
representation. Two decades later, Emmanuel
Emenike is its newest inmate.
This past weekend, the Nigeria international was
again at the centre of controversy. In a love-hate
relationship with the Fenerbahce faithful (with
whom he got into a Twitter altercation over
pictures of alcoholic beverages) since the
summer, the acrimony has been exacerbated by
his meagre goal-haul: Emenike has only managed
four goals all season for the Yellow Canaries. On
Saturday, it boiled over quite spectacularly.
After putting in an entry for miss of the season in
the first half, rounding the Besiktas ‘keeper before
firing high and wide, the club supporters began to
boo the 27-year-old, calling instead for the more
prolific Moussa Sow. Things came to a head
when an attack broke down, with Emenike the
culprit dispossessed. The striker then, quite
inexplicably, yanked his shirt off on the pitch, and
jogged off, requesting to be substituted.
The intervention of the Fenerbahce staff
persuaded him to retake the field, but at half time
he was withdrawn.
It is not unheard of for players to be booed by
their own fans, especially fans in the heated
environment of the Istanbul derby, where tempers
and emotions have a tendency to boil over. Why
then did the striker feel the need to react in such
a manner?
Many outlets have run with allegations of racial
abuse, a claim put forward by a Twitter account
impersonating Emenike in the aftermath of the
game. Fenerbahce have strongly refuted this
claim, releasing a statement to that effect citing
their long history with black players and
managers. Many at the game have also reported
the booing was not racially motivated.
What exactly caused Emenike to snap in that
manner then?
The most obvious answer is that he is undergoing
a deep crisis of confidence at the moment.
Emenike is a very private person, given to
introspection, and has always appeared to play
best on the fringe of emotion. He admitted that
the motivation behind his move to Spartak
Moscow in 2011, having only been a Fenerbahce
player for two months at the time, was the
“mental torture” of being arrested on match-fixing
allegations. Even though no evidence was found
and the charges were dropped, he pushed for a
move away from the Turkish capital and the
spotlight.
Source:goal.com

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