Fenerbahçe's new president has been determined

Fenerbahçe Sports Club has elected its new president at the Extraordinary Elective General Assembly.

The voting process for candidates Aziz Yıldırım and Hakan Safi, which began at 10:00, concluded at 17:00. The white ballot represented Safi, while the yellow ballot represented Yıldırım. The vote counting process began at 18:15.

YILDIRIM RETURNS AFTER 8 YEARS

According to initial unofficial results, Aziz Yıldırım holds a 66 percent to 34 percent lead over Hakan Safi. More than half of the ballot boxes have been counted. Yıldırım is leading in all of the ballot boxes.

According to unofficial results, Aziz Yıldırım has become the 35th President of Fenerbahçe. Yıldırım has returned as president after 8 years.

The Safi camp left the stands following the results and congratulated Yıldırım.

STATEMENT FROM SAFI: I CONGRATULATE HIM

In his statement after the election results, Safi said, “Our community wanted it this way; I tried to bring breath and excitement to our community. I promised serious investment and transfers, and I said that we had already made the contracts. As you can see, the Fenerbahçe community understands things differently; they like living with the past. I congratulate our opponent. I hope he will be successful.”

17:05 BALLOT BOXES CLOSED, THE COUNT IS CLEAR

As of 17:05, the ballot boxes were closed and the general assembly concluded. The final participation number was recorded as 27,138.

16:50 VOTES APPROACHED A RECORD

As of 16:50, the number of members who cast their votes exceeded 27,082. With minutes left until the ballot boxes closed, the record of 27,489 votes cast in the election on June 9, 2024, was approached.

15:20 'WE HAVE REACHED AN AGREEMENT WITH TWO PLAYERS'

Feridun Geçgel, who is on the Football Inc. board of directors list of Aziz Yıldırım, stated:

'Stating that Aziz Yıldırım became a candidate to put an end to the bad course of events, Geçgel said, 'President Aziz is the unifying element of Fenerbahçe. I wish Mr. Hakan had also been by President Aziz's side. The winner will be Fenerbahçe. President Aziz is coming for one year. He is not thinking about the second year. We have a leader who knows football. Galatasaray is the champion, but Fenerbahçe is the one being talked about. This shows how big Fenerbahçe is. We need to bring back the Fenerbahçe spirit. If we don't do this, we cannot be successful. We want to make the right transfers. We have reached an agreement with two players. One is Vedat Muriqi, I do not want to disclose the other. If we are elected, we want to do the right things.'

15:02 20 THOUSAND EXCEEDED

As of 15:02, the number of votes exceeded 20,300.

14:40 SARAN ALSO CAST HIS VOTE

Sadettin Saran, on the last day of his presidency, also cast his vote. After the voting process, Saran left the area without making any statement.

14:30 'WE WILL ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS AROUND 8-9'

Divan President Şekip Mosturoğlu:

'Around 17,134 votes were cast. It is a very good number, and it will increase. I think we will probably surpass last year. This shows that Fenerbahçe club members are taking ownership of their club. I think we will announce the official results around 8-9 in the evening.'

14:00 'PLAYERS ARE BECOMING TRASH'

'Both candidates have promises regarding the election, but the essential thing is Fenerbahçe. Whoever wins, we must not forget that the goal is to serve Fenerbahçe. There has been a very serious polarization recently. However, from the moment the election is over, everyone will struggle to serve under the same roof. If we don't forget this, that would be the most accurate election result.

One of my greatest wishes in my own profession is that these elections serve as a means to bring people closer by competing with each other, rather than separating them. Even though I haven't dealt with anything for 7-8 years and have had no contact with anyone, I am treated as if I am one of the subjects of this separation. I am extremely complaining about this.

Presidents and boards are the most important organs in clubs. We usually make comments and evaluate successes and failures through players and coaches. No, it's the exact opposite. The same things are always talked about in every transfer period. New players, always new players, new players, new players are talked about. Yet those new players come every year. As long as there is an environment of inefficiency, those new players, after about 3 months, 4 months... I apologize, I will say this in quotes because it is a current thing; they become trash... Yet the essential thing is the administrations. In this sense, presidents and boards are very important. This environment of inefficiency must be eliminated.'

13:30 'GREAT PRESIDENT' CHANTS

Ali Koç, one of the former presidents of Fenerbahçe, also came to the former Kenan Evren High School land to cast his vote. Some yellow-navy fans welcomed Koç with 'Great president' chants.

13:20 'WE HAVE REACHED AN AGREEMENT WITH TWO FOOTBALLERS'

Özgür Peker, who is on Aziz Yıldırım's list:

'The biggest transfer is Aziz Yıldırım himself. We have coaches we are talking to, both domestic and foreign. We will solve the head coach problem by June 20. We have reached an agreement with 2 footballers. We will announce it as soon as we receive the mandate. We will hold a vote among 4 candidates regarding our coach. Whatever our common opinion is, we will reach an agreement with them.'

13:00 'TRANSFERS WILL CONTINUE'

Fenerbahçe Presidential Candidate Hakan Safi:

'You see the favor of our congress members, we cannot breathe. Our time is very limited. We are here until 17:00. There is a very large crowd. We are also trying to be worthy of our fans. Hakan Çalhanoğlu is our latest transfer. We finished that too. Hopefully, we will do more after the election. May our congress be beneficial to our Fenerbahçe. May the winner be Fenerbahçe.'

12:45 AYDINLAR'S WISH FOR SUCCESS TO SAFI

Mehmet Ali Aydınlar, whose candidacy for the Fenerbahçe presidency was on the agenda but who later gave up, also came to the area to cast his vote. Aydınlar greeted presidential candidate Hakan Safi and wished him success.

12:00 PARTICIPATION EXCEEDED 12 THOUSAND

As of 12:00, the number of participants in the voting where the president will be determined exceeded 12 thousand.

11:50 RAMBO OKAN: 'I DECLARED YOU PRESIDENT'

Rambo Okan, a beloved figure of the yellow-navy stands, was also in the area during the election... Rambo showed his support for one of the candidates, Hakan Safi, by kissing him on the forehead. After the beloved figure said to Safi, 'Brother Hakan, you became president, you are the one. I declared you president!', there was laughter in the surroundings.

11:39 CANDIDATES WERE NOT LEFT ALONE

While the voting process continued on the second day of the congress, supporters of Aziz Yıldırım and Hakan Safi did not leave their candidates alone. Safi greeted congress members as he moved toward the area where the ballot boxes were set up. Aziz Yıldırım, on the other hand, received support with chants as he entered the area.

11:03 AZİZ YILDIRIM ARRIVED

Fenerbahçe Presidential Candidate Aziz Yıldırım arrived at the area where the voting process is being carried out.

11:00 HAKAN SAFI IS IN THE AREA

Fenerbahçe Presidential Candidate Hakan Safi arrived at the stadium to cast his vote. In a short dialogue he had with those around him, Safi said, 'We announced Hakan Çalhanoğlu'.

10:00 VOTING PROCESS HAS BEGUN

The voting process in Fenerbahçe's historic election has begun. The voting process will end at 17:00.