Ali Koç announces 'joint-stock company will be established'

The Clubs Association Foundation met today at a hotel in Beşiktaş. Following the meeting, Clubs Association Foundation President Ali Koç made statements to the press. Speaking about the meeting's agenda, Ali Koç said, "We had nearly 20 agenda items. These included topics ranging from VAR referees to the new Central Referee Committee (MHK) structure, the Consistency Monitoring Module, youth development leagues, match times, and the sharing of data from the broadcasting tender with us."

We discussed a directive regarding football academies. We talked about UEFA's infrastructure fund. We determined who will represent us on the advisory board. One of the most important achievements of today is the decision to establish a Lig A.Ş. or Süper Lig A.Ş. – we will decide on the name later. This had been established in the past as well.

But its structure and legal framework at the time were insufficient. It was dissolved after a while, having operated for 1-2 years. Now, we have opted for a different legal model. The important thing here is that share transfers for promoted and relegated teams were not happening automatically in our system. We have determined a method to overcome this and have pressed the button. Perhaps it won't have immediate short-term activity, but clubs now want to have more say in their own interests regarding commercial matters."

"LEGAL CHANGES ARE NECESSARY""

Noting that clubs currently have no say in matters that affect them, Koç said, "There are 8 separate articles that the TFF is currently dealing with. 7 of those articles are already legally tied to the TFF. The 8th article concerns commercial matters. We have established a new working group to look back and draft the Turkish football constitution for the first time. Generally, our clubs believe that having 149 professional clubs does not benefit Turkish football, but rather harms it."

This should be at most 60-80 clubs. We think 60 is more appropriate. If we are to have more of a say, legal changes are necessary. This needs to be designed together with the TFF and taken to our government. Therefore, we are taking our first step toward managing Turkish football in a way that is a bit more aligned with the West."

On one side, there is England, where the clubs do everything. On the other side, there is Turkey, where the federation does everything. Of course, we are not advocating for the English model, but we are advocating for finding a middle ground. Our current federation is open to these issues. We believe that being on the same frequency with our most important stakeholder in this regard will accelerate a potential change," he said.

"EVERYONE SHOULD MAKE THEIR OWN PLAN AND PROGRAM"

Stating that they also examined the format of the Turkish Cup and the Super Cup during the meeting, Ali Koç continued his remarks as follows:

"We consulted on the player eligibility rule. Looking at the big picture, good work has been done, but we need changes in some areas. However, our main goal is to be presented with a 5-year roadmap so that everyone can make their own plans and programs accordingly. Our club presidents thought it would be more appropriate for development leagues and the U19 league to be regional. Both TFF experts and the experts in our clubs said that this was not the right approach. We examined the Turkish Cup and Super Cup formats. The Turkish Cup had been extended by 1 year. Now, it will go to tender. We don't know if there will be a new format for this or not. A format was created last year. No one has any serious complaints or grievances about this format. Since a new tender will be held, we discussed how things might proceed. We also consulted on the Super Cup format. The match schedule is very busy. There were also those who were worried about it being held in January. Since the pandemic, players' vacation periods have been decreasing every year. Some of our clubs are making significant exports. We also evaluated whether this should be included within the scope of export incentives."

"TURKISH FOOTBALL MUST REINVENT ITSELF"

Emphasizing that Turkish football is going through a period where it must reinvent itself, President Koç stated, "We believe that if the federation and the clubs work together on this issue and focus on the same vision and goal, the Ankara part will be easier. We are going through a period where the football constitution, our new company that we decided on, and legal amendments require Turkish football to reinvent itself. When you look at Europe, everything is changing. Our duty is to make Turkish football more suitable for the countries we see as examples in Europe."

"FOREIGN VAR HAS PROVIDED BENEFITS"

Adding that foreign VAR has provided benefits, Ali Koç said, "The general consensus on VAR is that foreign VAR should continue, but if it is to continue, the quality of the VAR referee must be above certain criteria. When we look at the VAR referees we examined due to the problems we experienced in recent weeks, we saw that there were some names far from the level requested by our presidents as the Clubs Association. Of course, this is something being tried for the first time. While complaining, it is also useful to mention the positives. In our opinion, foreign VAR has provided benefits. I don't know if it will continue next season. Personally, I think it should continue."

Emphasizing that the duty of the advisory board is to design the refereeing system, Koç said, "The duty of the advisory board is to design the future refereeing system. It is not to appoint referees or train referees. It is to design what the Turkish refereeing institution should look like. I think our federation has a good approach. It must move away from the chronicized system."

Finally, noting that the foreign player rule needs to be cosmeticized, Ali Koç concluded his remarks by saying, "There is a 2003-2004 rule. Generally, everyone is satisfied. We will consult with the federation to ensure it is not just for a single season."

News Source: İHA