Fenerbahçe Sports Club President Ali Koç holds press conference: Why was the decision made to collect signatures?

Fenerbahçe Sports Club President Ali Koç held a press conference to address the signature collection process for the TFF election, which has been occupying the sports agenda.

Koç stated the following:

"The signature process did not start out of the blue. It wasn't a case of everyone being happy and content, the world being rosy, no one complaining, and us having free time so we decided to go collect signatures.

We are dealing with an extraordinary person. I will try to explain how the football industry, where millions of people's entire weeks are affected by match scores and weekend results, is in the hands of a person who is extremely interesting, strange, vindictive, and who lies extremely easily to save the day.

We are tired of constantly defending ourselves. They blamed us for the Riyadh incident. They are doing the same thing again. I am forced, unwillingly and sadly, to give the harshest response yet. I have to touch upon politics because they involve politics in this.

"I WILL TRY TO EXPLAIN HOW SOME CLUBS ZIGZAGGED"

Why did we feel the need to collect signatures? The signature collection process began when July 18 was not even on the table. The date of July 18 was given to buy time. Some clubs were swayed by this date. Some clubs believed it because he said, 'I will not be a candidate, don't offend me, let me go to the European Championship, I won't be a candidate and I will leave.' I will try to explain how some clubs zigzagged to gain a competitive advantage, even though they knew what was what.

"THE TFF IS THE MOST UNTRUSTWORTHY INSTITUTION IN TURKEY"

This season, there is a more chaotic environment than ever before. Many crises and scandals occurred. Riyadh, the referee slapping incident, a team withdrawing from the field, the Super Cup, leaked images, referees' statements, those who make decisions based on expectations and whatnot... A lot of things happened one after another. He says he has no problems other than the referees, but he could not manage the crises. Crisis management is extraordinarily poor. Because he wavered and could not show the necessary courage and will, problems arose among the clubs. Today, there is a major crisis of confidence in Turkish football. The Turkish Football Federation is the most untrustworthy institution in Turkey, and football is the most untrustworthy sector.

"REFEREEING HAS TURNED INTO A JIGSAW PUZZLE"

The institution of refereeing has been destroyed. The President chose to act as both the president and the head of the Central Referee Board (MHK). His intention was to fix a very troubled institution, but he made it even more troubled. Refereeing has turned into a jigsaw puzzle.

THE BEŞİKTAŞ EXAMPLE

"How many formats have been tried and abandoned in the refereeing institution in 21 months? Special arrangements were made for individuals and institutions. TFF statute article 3 says to act impartially and not to discriminate. In our opinion, there is a management approach that is completely the opposite. It took us time to understand this. There is a vindictive president. He personalized the issue in the polemic he entered into regarding Mr. Ahmet Nur Çebi. I tried to mediate many times, but it didn't work. The treatment he showed to Beşiktaş... The TFF is our superior. You cannot manage football with 'I like this, I don't like that.' He needs to treat everyone within a standard. We saw in the Beşiktaş incident that he is a vindictive person.

"A STRANGE RELATIONSHIP..."

"There is a strange relationship between him and Galatasaray. I tell them this. I say to the Galatasaray President and the TFF President, 'Your fight is a sham fight.'

LAWSUIT AGAINST ALİ KOÇ

"He encouraged Mr. Ahmet İbanoğlu to file a lawsuit against me and gave permission.

"THEY ARE TRYING TO PIT ME AGAINST MY COMMUNITY"

A striking incident occurred after the Fenerbahçe - Karagümrük match. It was a Sunday. There was a clear referee error in favor of Fenerbahçe and against Karagümrük. As you know, the well-known community uses these things very well; they made a huge fuss, even though similar things happened in their own matches. On Sunday, November 27, the president enters the federation with fury and anger. At the entrance, they say violently, 'They are trying to pit me against my community.' He has a statement written in front of many people by Ms. Medine. In the president's own words. They get it approved by İbanoğlu and publish the statement.

"HE SAYS 'IS THAT OKAY, AHMET?'"

Which football team is a championship candidate, a European candidate, in a relegation battle, and after a referee error made against that team, has the MHK president ever made a statement? I ask, do you remember Beşiktaş, Trabzonspor, Galatasaray, or any other club? Can you imagine the influence on the organization? A TFF president, the man who should ensure equal competition, shouts in anger and says, 'You are going to pit me against my community.' They say, 'President, we will give a 3-4 match ban.' When I called the MHK President 'spineless,' this is what I meant; he has the text written, says 'Is that okay, Ahmet?', and makes him sign it."

HE HAD SAID HE WOULD NOT BE A CANDIDATE

He said he would definitely not be a candidate, now he says we'll see in May. You know what kind of tactics these are.

"OUR PLAYERS WERE GOING TO BE GIVEN 4-5 MATCH BANS"

We were at the TFF before the unfortunate incident. There were 6-7 executives. He explained that he would change the MHK during the mid-season, change 40 percent of the referees, and change the instructions. A punching incident happened. Our president changed 180 degrees. The Riyadh incident is well-known. Many presidents told me they were offered match-fixing. Did he investigate them or not? Betting allegations are rampant. He was under influence after the Trabzonspor - Fenerbahçe match. Reports were changed to give heavy penalties to Fenerbahçe players, but he couldn't do it, he didn't dare. Our players were going to be given 4 or 5 match bans each.

"BECAUSE CLUBS ZIGZAGGED..."

He sowed seeds of discord among the clubs with a divide-and-rule management approach. You can see it in the signature process; he is trying to divide the Clubs Association. If the clubs stand tall, he cannot divide them, but because some clubs zigzagged, he was successful.

"HE PUT 25 DAYS IN HIS POCKET THANKS TO ÖZBEK"

Including Galatasaray and Trabzonspor at the beginning, they say they will give signatures. There is talk of Monday, and there are those who say Monday is too late. On April 5, four more teams joined the process, one of which is Fenerbahçe. We received a scathing letter from the TFF regarding the Super Cup. We said 'Enough' and joined. Afterwards, Beşiktaş also joined. Beşiktaş is also being blamed, right?

Büyükekşi, realizing this and understanding that he could not endure it, made a statement in Şanlıurfa to buy time. We still don't know if there is a board decision or not.

When this statement came, they consulted with Dursun Özbek there too. Dursun Özbek, who said let's go to the election immediately, comes to the point of 15-20 days. Three of those who said they would give signatures say, 'We reached our goal of July 18, there is no need for signatures.' They say this thinking that a new TFF will be elected on July 18.

Now his self-confidence is through the roof, he says the election cannot be held before 60 days. Since he put 25 days in his pocket thanks to Dursun Özbek, he says we will do it on July 18. He can bring this to the beginning of June with a board decision.

WHAT HAD HAPPENED?

A public statement was made by the Turkish Football Federation regarding the clubs' collection of signatures.

The statement included the following:

"The Turkish Football Federation, an autonomous institution established by law, is an official international institution affiliated with FIFA and UEFA, managed in accordance with its founding law, main statute, instructions, and regulations. All signatures delivered to it via notary and withdrawn are being recorded.

In this context, the number of signatures delivered to date via notary with the request to move up the date of the elective financial general assembly to be held on July 18, 2024, is 109; the number of clubs that declared they withdrew their signatures via notary is 13; and the number of invalid signatures signed by unauthorized persons is 2. As a result, the number of valid signatures is 94.

Furthermore, the Super League Clubs Association Foundation, the 1st League Clubs Association, and the 2nd and 3rd League Clubs Association are three separate institutions independent of each other. Just as no association president is a decision-maker or spokesperson on behalf of other associations, no club president who has not been authorized by all clubs that are members of these associations is a decision-maker, representative, or spokesperson on behalf of all professional clubs. A club president's claim that they collected 136 signatures has nothing to do with reality, and this statement binds only himself.

The Turkish Football Public should have no doubt that the Turkish Football Federation will continue to provide accurate information to prevent the public from being misled and to prevent disinformation."