ISTANBUL

Turkish football giants Fenerbahce sacked Portuguese manager Vitor Pereira in the middle of his two-year contract, the club announced Monday.

"As of today, our contract with Vitor Pereira was unilaterally canceled based on a foreseen necessity by our executive board," a club statement said.

The Istanbul club hired Pereira as a coach on June 11, 2015 for a two-year deal.

With Pereira at the helm, Fenerbahce had 38 wins, 15 ties, and 9 losses.

Pereira started his coaching career at age 34 with Portuguese clubs Padroense and Porto's youth team. After retiring from playing professional football at the age of 28, he enjoyed his premier first-team spell with San Joanense in the 2004-2005 season.

* Reporting by Ercan Cakar : Writing by Diyar Guldogan