Turkish national football director Terim resigns

Istanbul, July 27:  National football director Fatih Terim has resigned from his post, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced in a statement

The announcement was published on the official website of the federation on Wednesday following a meeting between Terim and TFF officials in Istanbul, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The two sides agreed that it would benefit both parties to part ways," the statement said.

The 63-year-old former AC Milan and Galatasaray coach was recently involved in a fight with a restaurant owner in Alacati, a resort town in Izmir province.

Local media reported that Terim and his sons-in-law injured five men in the incident.

"Some non-football issues have been wearing out our football director Fatih Terim and the management of Turkish football federation," added the TFF statement.

Terim has been a well known football professional both in Turkey and abroad with the nick name "Emperor".

Terim has been in charge of Galatasaray and the Turkish national team three times. In his second term with Turkey he led them to the Euro 2008 semi-finals.

Terim failed to lead Turkey past the group stage of Euro 2016, and now Turkey is at third place in the 2018 Russia World Cup qualification stage of Group I, two points behind leaders Croatia and Iceland and level on 11 points with Ukraine after six matches.