MHK President Ferhat Gündoğdu comments on 'foreign referees'

Central Referee Board (MHK) President Ferhat Gündoğdu made statements regarding the current agenda on HT Spor.

Here are Gündoğdu's statements...

Speaking on the subject of foreign referees, Gündoğdu said: "My personal opinion; I have said it before, I am personally against foreign referees. We are a nation of over 80 million. We are the country with the youngest population in Europe. Our history is clear. We love the struggle. As children of such a nation, of course, I cannot be a supporter of it. If you asked every Turkish citizen, everyone would say the same thing.

However, there are institutional needs and conditions. Foreign referees did not come this year. Foreign referees came last year. VAR referees, assistant referees, fourth officials, these are match officials. In the middle, on the sidelines, in VAR, AVAR... It entered our lives in the last 8 weeks of last year. These conditions brought us here. The door was opened not today, but last year. We don't have the patience to wait even 1 day, do you understand? If we hadn't spun our wheels and had continued to train referees, our entire effort would be to contribute to the development of referees with an education-focused approach. Supporting our friends is a psychological and social contribution. The social intelligence of these friends may appear to be behind the previous generation. Social intelligence is required on the field, as well as leadership competencies, strategic decision-making...

Remember Vincic. He immediately perceived the atmosphere and made a strategic decision in the second minute, managing the process. These require extra effort for our generation. Most of our clubs contribute to this change and transformation. This is not an easy process. We can also see it as rehabilitation. We are trying to increase their resilience to such pressure and stress. In this process, foreign referees contribute. They allow us to focus with them." he said.

"I GAVE VINCIC AS AN EXAMPLE TO THE REFEREES"

Stating that he showed Slavko Vincic as an example to the referees, the MHK President said, "I gave Vincic as an example to the referees. I tried to explain that he could manage the atmosphere and the audience. This is very important. This is not just about confidence. Body language, movements, behaviors, gestures, and facial expressions..." he stated.

Gündoğdu also added, "We felt that Yasin Kol had an impact on disciplinary practices beyond his performance. Our TFF President also has a positive contribution. At every opportunity, he said, 'You represent the TFF on the field, apply all the rules, we are behind you.' This is a very important will." he expressed.

WILL THE FOREIGN REFEREE PRACTICE CONTINUE?

Answering the question, "Clubs have demands for foreign referees. Will the foreign referee practice continue?" Gündoğdu said, "In terms of the development of our referees, this process, the goal we set at the beginning was 2 years. We are finishing 1 year. This process will be completed at the end of next season. No one has the strength to be patient. Clubs are spending large amounts of money. Football fans also want to trust." he stated.