Ekrem İmamoğlu visits Ali Koç

İmamoğlu visited Fenerbahçe President Ali Koç alongside CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik, Kadıköy Mayor Şerdil Dara Odabaşı, CHP Kadıköy District Chair Ali Narin, and Mayoral Advisor Murat Ongun. 

Koç hosted İmamoğlu, Çelik, and their accompanying delegation at the Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Sports Complex Ülker Stadium. Expressing his pleasure at being at the Fenerbahçe club, İmamoğlu said, “There was an exciting derby this weekend.” Upon these words, Koç interjected, saying, “Unexciting,” which drew laughter. 

Wishing for the new year to bring luck and success to Fenerbahçe, İmamoğlu added, “I also wish you great success in your European journey.”

Emphasizing that Fenerbahçe is more than just a football club, İmamoğlu stated, “Fenerbahçe encompasses so much. It has accumulated and holds a great deal in terms of both Turkish history and our very strong community across all amateur branches.” 

Underlining that they have embarked on a determined journey to bring the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games to Istanbul, İmamoğlu said:

“The most important stakeholders in Istanbul's 2036 Olympic journey are Istanbul's three major clubs. In this context, I believe that the Fenerbahçe Club, with all its amateur branches, will raise very successful champion athletes during our Olympic journey—though we have the Paris Olympics ahead of us—and during our hosting in Istanbul. Hosting the Olympics is a major goal for us.

And I also think it is a long-overdue goal. Istanbul, where two continents meet, must host the Olympics as soon as possible. In this direction, we are creating a synergy, especially with different sports components, primarily our National Olympic Committee.

We have discussed this issue many times with the President of the International Olympic Committee, and we continue to do so. We want to continue this journey with this local dynamism, of course, in cooperation with our government and all units of our state.”

“WE WILL MEET IN THE NEAR FUTURE"

Sharing the information with Koç and his management that they will organize an event in the near future where Olympic athletes, clubs, and executives will be invited, İmamoğlu said, “The details of our invitation have reached you. I hope we would like to see you among us there.

We would especially like to see our athletes. As we march toward the Olympic Games, we have also set the goal of hosting the European Games in 2027. This will be the first experience of such a multi-branch gathering in Istanbul. We are preparing for that as well.

Let me share that information with you in advance. We have spoken with our National Olympic Committee, and correspondence has taken place. We will meet with the National Olympic Committee in the near future. Because its status is a bit different. The local government and the National Olympic Committee can manage the cooperation process.

We also want to experience an advantage of 2027 in Istanbul. Since it involves participation in multiple branches, it will also serve as a quota foundation for the 2028 Olympics. Therefore, it has a position that can create such an opportunity area for us. As a host, we are actually talking about a hosting scenario where our athletes are preparing for 2028 and competing for quotas. Hopefully, we want to give the good news of this to Istanbul in the first weeks or months of 2024,” he shared.

News Source: 12punto