Former Fenerbahçe executives publish statement calling for the resignation of the Central Referee Committee (MHK)!

43 individuals who have served as presidents and executives at Fenerbahçe Sports Club in the past have published a statement regarding the recent developments between Fenerbahçe President Ali Koç and MHK President Ahmet İbanoğlu.

The statement asserted that the MHK does not approach clubs equally and that Ahmet İbanoğlu should resign from his post immediately.

Here is the full text of that statement;

"To Those Who Manage Our Sports, the Turkish Sports Public, and the Attention of Our Community,

Fenerbahçe, the world's largest sports club, has been doing its utmost for 116 years to make its fans proud with both its stance and its achievements.

Throughout its 116-year journey, our Club, which has taken only the principles of the Republic as its guide, has been ready wherever our country has had a need and has been an 'example' with every step it has taken.

Fenerbahçe has achieved Euroleague championships with both our women's and men's basketball teams, a feat not granted to any other sports club in the world.

Today, it is also Fenerbahçe athletes who form the core of the Turkish National Women's Volleyball Team, which has made our country the 'number 1 in the world' in volleyball."

For years, Fenerbahçe has maintained its status as the club that sends the most athletes to the Olympics, carrying this banner like a mission. Every athlete of ours who competes for our crescent-and-star flag is a medal of honor for us. Underlying these successes are the long-standing, uninterrupted investments and efforts of our Club.

However, for years, this giant club has been struggling against the hostility of hands that prevent it from experiencing similar successes in football.

It is common knowledge that Fenerbahçe, which won five championships in five branches in the 2011 season and entered the list of "Europe's 25 elite clubs," was targeted for destruction by the treacherous terrorist organization FETÖ starting on the morning of July 3, 2011, and that this operation clearly altered the course of Turkish sports, especially football, by obstructing its path. Four years after this operation, while Fenerbahçe was again at the top of the league, its team bus was shot at on the way back from an away game against Rizespor in an attack unprecedented not only in Turkey but in world history, with the intent to destroy the football team.

As if all these unprecedented organizational operations aimed at ending our Club's existence were not enough, the same games are still being played and slanders are still being cast against Fenerbahçe, Turkey's largest sports club, every season.

Coming to this season; with only 12 weeks left in the Super Lig, refereeing errors are occurring that make not only Fenerbahçe fans but also former referees working as commentators on television and everyone with a conscience say "this is too much." Despite these errors and all the scandals exposed, the TFF and all its boards, especially the MHK, are closing their eyes and ears.

The fact that assistant referee Kemal Yılmaz resigned from refereeing by revealing that he was not assigned matches and was punished for the 'correct penalty decision' he made in favor of Fenerbahçe is an event unprecedented in the history of the country's football!

The latest example;

Is it possible to explain with reason or logic that Adana Demirspor player Rodrigues choked our player Oosterwolde last week and did not receive a red card? It is impossible, but even if the match referee, the assistant referee, and the fourth official did not see it, the VAR

Is there any possibility that their team does not see this disgrace? Why has the report prepared by former MHK President Serdar Tatlı, which identified field and VAR referees who should be 'removed from football as soon as possible,' been swept under the rug for years? And why is the slaughter of Fenerbahçe's rights by these referees in front of everyone's eyes being condoned?

Finally;

The fact that the person currently serving as the MHK President has filed a criminal complaint against the President of Fenerbahçe Sports Club in an unprecedented manner, and has publicly announced it, has made it completely impossible for referees—who have been sent messages through 'reward and punishment systems' via appointment and suspension decisions for years—to make objective decisions in matches involving Fenerbahçe and its rivals in the championship race!

From this moment on, in order to prevent Turkish football from being dragged into a historic chaos and to ensure that referees can manage matches fairly and impartially, the MHK President should not sit in that seat for even a minute longer and must resign from his post immediately! Otherwise, every day that we remain deprived of a TFF that stands at an equal distance to all clubs and referees who blow the whistle fairly for all teams, our conviction will be solidified that those who could not inflict the desired damage on Fenerbahçe through police, prosecutors, and judges affiliated with terrorist organizations—all of whom are now in prison or fugitives—are now trying to achieve these goals 'through the referees'.

As individuals who have served as Presidents and executives at Fenerbahçe Sports Club in the past and have served Turkish sports selflessly, our only wish is the establishment of a competitive environment where there are fair and impartial administrations at an equal distance to everyone, and where only those who deserve it win.

Our expectation from our State, which we as a community have always stood by, from those who manage sports, and from the entire sports public, is that this injustice, which harms the peace of society, must be put to an end! We stand with Fenerbahçe and the struggle it has put forth!"

The names who signed the statement are as follows;

Ali Şen, Uğur Dündar, Vefa Küçük, Abdullah Kiğılı, Alper Pirşen, Barış Aydil, Burak Karabacak, Burhan Karaçam, Davut Dişli, Emre Can, Ercan Karasu, Ferruh Tanay, Hakan Bilal Kutlualp, Hulusi Belgü, Hüseyin Topbaş, İsfendiyar Zülfikari, Kenan Şişik, Metin Doğan, Metin Sipahioğlu, Metin Şen, Murat Aşık, Murat Özaydınlı, Nazlı Ercan, Necdet Ersoy, Neşet Yalçın, Orhan Demirel, Orhan Keçeli, Ozan Balaban, Ozan Korman Tarman, Ömer Temelli, Rahmi Eyüboğlu, Raif Dinçkök, Sadettin Saran, Semih Özsoy, Serhat Çeçen, Sevil Becan, Şevket Yılmaz, Talat Yılmaz, Tuncay Uzun, Turhan Şahin, Uğur Pasiner, Ünal Uzun, Yavuz Kayral

News Source: 12punto