Club fans made clear of their dismay against Aybaba's decision to leave Al-Saqqa out of the team last two losses, and the coach responded by wondering if "The 'Arab' defender was more important than him".

"Aybaba has no place in the Genclerbirligi family. We don’t want a racist manager," read a statement on the club's fan website Alkaralar.

Al-Saqqa has earlier told FilGoal.com that he has no explanation for the coach's decision to omit him from the starting line up, confirming that he will leave the club in January if Aybaba stays on as coach.

Gencler are currently 15th in the Turkish Superlig, as they managed to collect no more than four points from their last five games.