Fenerbahçe

ANKARA - Broadcaster beIN SPORTS has taken legal action to stop Fenerbahçe players wearing doctored versions of the company logo as part of the Turkish soccer club's protests against what it says is beIN's biased coverage of its matches.

Two beIN sources said the company launched the legal action on Wednesday at a Turkish intellectual property court to stop the club using the protest logo "beFAIR”. One of the sources said further legal action was being prepared.

As 19-time Süper Lig champions residing in the cultural and historic center of Istanbul, Fenerbahçe has long captured the imagination of football fans around the globe. Images of the Eternal Rivalry — the pitched battle between bitter derby foes Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray — are enough to drive the most ignorant of Americans into a Wikipedia deep dive.

Fenerbahçe will sign German midfielder Mesut Özil from Arsenal for three and a half years for an undisclosed fee, Turkey's private Demirören news agency and other Turkish media reported on Wednesday.

While there was no immediate comment on the reports from Fenerbahçe, broadcaster A Spor said Özil and the club had agreed on the transfer in principle and that the 32-year-old would join the former Turkish champions later in January.