Tension between Serdal Adalı and Hüseyin Yücel: 'Who are you?'

Adalı and Yücel, who will face off in the presidential election to be held at the end of December, answered questions about topics of public interest during a program where tensions rose from time to time.

Presidential candidate Serdal Adalı held current president Hüseyin Yücel responsible for expenditures made during the transfer period and stated that the club had been saddled with 100 million euros in debt.

While Hüseyin Yücel did not accept the allegations, he criticized Adalı's visit to the Supreme Election Council (YSK), saying, "What does that have to do with anything? We are not a political party. We are not running in a municipal election."

The atmosphere grew tense following Adalı's response to President Yücel's question, "Where will you find the 50 million euros needed by May?"

The highlights from the program broadcast on Ekol TV are as follows:

SERDAL ADALI: I WANT TO LEARN THE REASON FOR THE DISGRACE WE ARE EXPERIENCING

"There isn't just a football team; Beşiktaş is a huge community. In my opinion, it is Turkey's largest community, and for the last month, it has been experiencing a chaotic environment that no Beşiktaş fan is happy with. A payment plan has been made. This chaotic environment needs to be lifted from Beşiktaş as soon as possible. Beyond rhetoric in the election atmosphere about what we will do or what your projects are, I will first ask Mr. Hüseyin about this chaotic environment and why it exists; I want to learn the reason for the disgrace we are experiencing."

"WE MUST ENLIGHTEN THE COMMUNITY"

"The environment we are in, why and how did it happen... There was an election atmosphere last year as well. Perhaps there wasn't today's crisis environment, but there were problems back then too. I stated the solutions then as well. I have known Mr. Hüseyin for years, and I don't think he would want to sweep these under the rug; we need to talk about these and enlighten the community. Since we have come together, we need to talk about these openly and solve them."

HÜSEYİN YÜCEL: OUR PROBLEM IS FINANCIAL

"After being elected, we will perform our prayers. I will meet with my daughters and my wife. I will meet with the management. Our problem is financial. It is clear what is what. We are already from within the business. We know what is needed. We will get to work as soon as possible. Beşiktaş cannot tolerate even 1.5 days, let alone 1.5 years. We will roll up our sleeves and get to work immediately."

"A MAN WHO STAGES A COUP DOES NOT CALL FOR AN ELECTION"

"I could have not called for an election and continued this 6-month duty. Many of my friends in the management said let's continue. I said I didn't want to continue. I said we should leave the duty after the president resigned, but because Beşiktaş would have gone to a trustee, we took this responsibility upon ourselves. But we need a vote of confidence from the community. I don't think a man who stages a coup would call for an extraordinary election."

SERDAL ADALI: "THERE ARE THINGS WE HAVE HEARD"

"Hasan Arat said, 'No one can stage an uprising in Beşiktaş.' There are things we have heard. Mr. Hüseyin will provide the answer to this. I know what the whole community heard during the resignation process. What I heard is that there was a split within the management—a coup, or whatever you want to call it—and that Mr. Hüseyin decided not to assist in matters he was previously assisting with, and that the problem stemmed from Hasan Bey resigning and Mr. Hüseyin not providing any more support. Unpaid salaries and player payments started being made after the week Hasan Bey resigned. If there was no such thing, why were the payments held back? When people see this, they believe it, whether they want to or not."

HÜSEYİN YÜCEL: "THE COUP CLAIM IS CONTRADICTORY"

"Hasan Arat held a meeting two or three days before he resigned and said he would not be a candidate in May. He said, 'My health is not good, I am barely here.' He said, 'If I enter any resignation process, I want support for Hüseyin from my friends here.' This statement and the coup claim are very contradictory. There was confusion inside. I told the president we need to take action. I said if we are going to hand it over to Brad, we need to remove Samet Hoca from there. I said if we are going to entrust it to Samet Hoca, we need to remove Brad. I told him, 'Either set me free or make me prosper.' Subsequently, before the president resigned, he resigned from the Football AŞ. He said, 'I am entrusting football to you, manage it accordingly.' My first action was not to send Brad to the Maccabi Tel Aviv match."

"IN MY OPINION, THERE IS NO SUCH THING"

Serdal Adalı: "It is clear you have been meeting. All the good things are Mr. Hüseyin's, and the bad things are Hasan Bey's. In my opinion, there is no such thing."

Hüseyin Yücel: "I didn't have such a statement. I said that after the Adana Demirspor match, I am the person who will be held accountable first. I never ran away from responsibility. If I had run away, I would have disappeared so easily. I would have left, and the club would have gone to a trustee."

Serdal Adalı: "Please do not use that word. I can never associate a trustee with any period of Beşiktaş's history!"

Hüseyin Yücel: "You visited the head of the YSK. What does that have to do with anything? We are not a political party. We are not running in a municipal election."

Serdal Adalı: "You connected that from a very bad place. My advice to you is to visit him when you go to Ankara. He is a very good Beşiktaş fan."

SERDAL ADALI: "HOW DID YOU ALLOW THIS?"

"I also served as second president. I provide the money, someone else makes the decision. I said it on the first day, 'How did you allow this?'. At the point we have reached, the club has a loss of 100 million euros due to your poor management. 40 million euros in transfer fees, 35 million euros in salary differences between last year and this year. Last year 3.5 million euros were being paid, this year 7. That makes 75 million euros for you."

HÜSEYİN YÜCEL: "THAT CALCULATION IS WRONG"

"I say there isn't. That calculation is wrong. You have taken one from the net and one from the gross. You are not comparing apples to apples right now. If I lose, I will not be a candidate again in May. If Serdal Adalı is elected, it is not ethical to give him only 5-6 months. I think it is appropriate for him to continue for 3.5 years if elected."

SERDAL ADALI: "I DID NOT THINK THAT I WOULD LOSE"

"I did not think about what if I lose. If necessary, I will be by Beşiktaş's side again. The discretion belongs to the general assembly, but I never thought that I would lose."

"WHO ARE YOU?"

Hüseyin Yücel: "Currently, Beşiktaş's problem is 50 million euros until May. If we learn from Mr. Adalı how he will cover this with financing sources..."

Serdal Adalı: "Who are you that I should tell you this? I will go to the General Assembly and explain it. What kind of thing is this? What kind of attitude is this? Who are you to talk to me like this? Let me pay your money, and let's say goodbye as Beşiktaş. Get off the back of this club. There is no point in it becoming this level-less. Who are you to ask me how I will cover the money? Are you going to cover it? Are you going to donate it? I will lend it."

Hüseyin Yücel: "I asked this too, what is disrespectful about it?"

Serdal Adalı: "Who are you? We have entered the election together. What is going on? Am I asking you where you will get the money? Are you going to get it from your father, or from your friend..."