The controversial tactician came across as a racist upon commenting on the 34-year-old Egyptian last week, which provoked the Turkish Football Federation and local mass media.

However, the Gencler boss assured during a press conference on Thursday that he didn't mean to patronize Arabs as was reported.

"I was improvising, I had no intention whatsoever to understate Arabs. It was a spontaneous utterance that was greatly misunderstood," he told the press conference.

"I was just astonished to see the fans jeering a Turkish coach for foreign player, irrespective of his nationality.

"For instance, if a French footballer had been in Al-Saqqa's shoes, I would have said the same. I didn't mean Arab in specific."

Baptism Of Fire

Aybaba was heavily jeered by Genclerbirligi's spectators during the loss to Sivasspor, and thus was infuriated.

The 53-year-old was panned for keeping the veteran player on the fringes for no apparent reason.

"Are the fans jeering me because of this 'Arab'? Is he more important than me," the beleaguered coach said right after the game.

The defender's absence notably weakened the rearguard over the last month, therefore the club's fans pounded away at Aybaba.

Later on, the Turkish Football Federation asked Genclerbirligi for clarifications on the post-match comments that sounded a bit discriminative.

Aybaba has been vilified for the past few days, and it is widely expected that the Turkish Federation would meet his remarks with a sanction.