Uğur Dündar: 'What is being done to Ali Koç is unfair and wrong!'

Fenerbahçe High Council Board President Uğur Dündar made a noteworthy statement on the club's official website.

Dündar responded to the claim that appeared on social media following the attack on referee Halil Umut Meler after the MKE Ankaragücü - Çaykur Rizespor match, which alleged that 'the situation reached this point because of Ali Koç's words.'

In his statement, Uğur Dündar said, "I was at those meetings. Should I believe my own ears or what is being said? This characterization of Mr. Ali is extremely unfair, extremely unjust, and extremely wrong. In fact, at the end of his sentence, he said, 'Show your reaction in a democratic way, do not take what I said to another place.' Unfortunately, an perception was created by cutting a part of it and ignoring the rest. I do not want to underline what our rivals have said, but let me mention one. They said, 'If these referee errors continue, we will not finish this league.' This does not just smell like a threat; it is a threat. Everyone must act responsibly here. Everyone must fulfill their responsibility so that such events do not happen again from now on."

THE FULL TEXT OF UĞUR DÜNDAR'S STATEMENT IS AS FOLLOWS:

"What happened last night were scenes we wish not to see on the green fields. First of all, I send my best wishes for a speedy recovery to Mr. Halil Umut Meler. The incident last night is an event that should be condemned from every angle and one that we never want to see repeated on our fields. Football is peace, friendship, and brotherhood. It is an exciting activity with universal messages.

We played a derby match at Beşiktaş's stadium on Saturday and won 3-1. When we go as the Fenerbahçe delegation, we usually sit side-by-side with Beşiktaş Council President Mr. Tevfik Yamantürk and Mr. Hinginar, his friend. We talked about this among ourselves with Mr. Tevfik: Football is actually a pleasure, 90 minutes that should be watched with enjoyment. We need to explain this to everyone. It was as if these words were spoken with the instinct to prevent this incident, having foreseen it.

Yesterday, we had our traditional friendship dinner at our Faruk Ilgaz Facilities with the council boards of clubs that have won championships in the Super Lig. Galatasaray, Beşiktaş, Trabzonspor, Başakşehir, and Bursaspor were our guests. As the High Council President of Fenerbahçe, my friends and I had the honor and happiness of hosting them as hosts. We had lunch. Our President Mr. Ali Koç and our General Secretary Burak Kızılhan also attended the meeting.

It passed in a very sincere atmosphere, and we made a principle decision; from now on, we, as Council Presidents and delegations, as the 'gray-haired' experienced people of our communities, should put our hands under the stone regarding the structural problems of Turkish sports and bring forward solution proposals. Everyone reached a consensus on this principle.

I thought about what could be done later, and I shared the following message in the WhatsApp group we formed with the Council Presidents: 'Dear Presidents, Turkish sports – especially football – have structural problems that are waiting for solutions. We should present these to our President, explain them, and then, if the President grants such an appointment and speaks with us, we should explain what the solution proposals could be to the public with a declaration.' I shared this, and unfortunately, this event happened that night.

As for who shot at our team, that was a major assassination attempt. If the bus driver had lost control, it would have rolled into the abyss, and Turkey would have faced a great catastrophe. The fact that the perpetrator has still not been found is truly a very sad situation from a judicial perspective and is an event that encourages attackers.

I remember an incident. Years ago, while working at TRT, a referee in the lower leagues was beaten very badly and fell into a coma. The headline of the local newspaper was exactly this: 'There is no sportsmanship left on the fields.' Many things happen in the lower leagues, but because they are not very popular clubs, they are not reflected in the public eye to the same extent.

Those who manage football should not sweep some problems under the rug in a sense. They are being swept under, ignored.

Documented issues that need to be addressed are being ignored. It is left to an expectation of 'let's get through this week, let's see what happens after that.' Therefore, these accumulate in the fan bases, and a perception of constantly being subjected to injustice emerges. These need to be evaluated very well.

Right now, all football stakeholders need to look at the event very cool-headedly, and everyone needs to develop rhetoric with the awareness of their own responsibility so that these do not manifest or repeat in the future.

England did what was necessary regarding violence in sports. In England, it is not possible for a person who engages in hooliganism or aggression on a football field to find a place on those fields again, and they can certainly pay for it by serving time in prison.

In the past, some measures were taken and laws were passed in our country as well. You know, people who chant badly or use profanity in the stadium were supposed to be identified as points, and cameras were supposed to identify them. What happened? None of it happened. Clubs report these, but the necessary punishment is not applied in any way. It remains in words.

Will there be a penal sanction in international organizations because referee Halil Umut Meler has a FIFA badge?

No, I don't think that will happen. I am not saying this to compare, but in Greece, a club president pulled a gun and attacked a referee. Therefore, since there was no such sanction there, I think it is unthinkable for a sanction to be imposed on us. But all football stakeholders must collectively condemn this incident and fulfill their responsible behaviors so that it does not happen again.

Those who know our President Ali Koç closely know that he is always in favor of friendship, peace, and love. We also held these council meetings at the invitation of the Galatasaray and Beşiktaş council presidents. President Ali also attended the dinner where we were the hosts. There, for nearly an hour, he made an effort to form a consensus on how we should handle our common problems by talking together.

I saw in that environment how eager Mr. Ali is to contribute to friendship and the solution of our problems with a common approach. Furthermore, as Fenerbahçe, we are a club that has been very victimized. We were subjected to the FETÖ conspiracy. While Fenerbahçe had a financial value on a global scale, it was crippled and pruned as a result of the match-fixing conspiracy; if it had been another club, a club that did not have roots in the War of Independence and did not have a very large fan base, it would have taken down its sign if it had been subjected to these. It had a very heavy cost for us. Then, the shooting of our team in Trabzon. Then, Fenerbahçe being at the center of injustices that were seen coming.

Our President always emphasized that there are measures that need to be taken to prevent the event that happened last night. He said that if you continue to sweep these problems, some of which we have documented, under the rug, one day unwanted events will occur. Everyone with common sense reads it this way. Indeed, at the point we have reached, unfortunately, the matter has come to this. Those words were uttered to warn all authorities and to shake them into awareness in order to prevent these things that we all condemn today.

"WHAT IS BEING DONE TO ALI KOÇ IS UNFAIR AND WRONG!"

I was at those meetings. Should I believe my own ears or what is being said? This characterization of Mr. Ali is extremely unfair, extremely unjust, and extremely wrong. In fact, at the end of his sentence, he said, 'Show your reaction in a democratic way, do not take what I said to another place.' Unfortunately, a perception was created by cutting a part of it and ignoring the rest. I do not want to underline what our rivals have said, but let me mention one. They said, 'If these referee errors continue, we will not finish this league.' This does not just smell like a threat; it is a threat. Everyone must act responsibly here. Everyone must fulfill their responsibility so that such events do not happen again from now on.

Football administrators, especially the federation president, must provide a firm guarantee that justice will be served. I find his statements last night to be impulsive. We all felt great pain from the incident; even if a young referee made a wrong decision, should the response to that be a punch, or kicking him mercilessly while he is lying on the ground? Never, absolutely not.

It is our most natural right to expect the federation president to display a calming, soothing, and reassuring approach to the football public. Such events can happen in every society. Furthermore, Ankaragücü is our club that gave the most martyrs in the national struggle. Everyone must put their hand under the stone for this to be a turning point.

As Council Presidents, we can issue a declaration. We can suggest both the problems of our football world and the ways to solve them within a constructive approach. I think that calm can be possible with the participation of our President in this regard.

As the council presidents of the clubs, we can explain this to him. After all, club presidents are in competition. But we are delegations with the maturity and level of experience to display an approach above the clubs. We must put our hands under the stone quickly.

The state showed the necessary reflex with all its institutions. The suspects were caught. The defendants were arrested. From now on, the investigation will continue by expanding. I have no worries there, but this must be a turning point for Turkish football. So that a similar one does not happen again.

For the future, the entire football public needs to adopt a common discourse with the same sentiment to ensure that a similar event does not happen again. Based on this, can referees not be criticized? Of course, they can be criticized.

Can referees not make mistakes? Of course, they can. Sweeping some mistakes under the rug while they are seen clearly and not addressing them causes a process that puts all referees under suspicion by the TFF.

Now, this society is waiting for the answer to what kind of steps the TFF will take regarding the problems.

For this reason, Mr. Mehmet Büyükekşi also needs to put his hat in front of him and think about why we reached this point. Afterwards, he needs to come before the public with solution proposals."

News Source: 12punto