Ali Koç: Another structure is being organized

Fenerbahçe President Ali Koç made statements to the press following his visit to the TFF with his board of directors. Stating that they came not because of a match score, but because they believe an operation is being conducted against them, President Koç said, "We are not a club that comes to the federation, screams and shouts, and stirs up trouble based on a match score.

This is a clear operation conducted against us. All assignments are being made manually. Sending a field referee who has had deep problems with the Fenerbahçe community in the past and is not desired at all, along with a certain VAR referee who changed his surname a while ago, to our match is an operation ahead of the elections. The topics I will explain in a moment are global issues. I have conveyed each of these to the esteemed president and the board members.

The MHK (Central Referee Board) President and the board know best how much of a drawback it could create and how sensitive an issue it could be to appoint these referees 4 days before the elections. Even if they are instructed to hold an election that could lead to controversy, trouble, and major debates based on referee performance, they must prevent it. They did this knowingly and willingly. I said yesterday, 'As long as I am alive, it is my duty to hold them accountable for this,'" he said.

Ali Koç continued his speech by waiting for the call to prayer to end, saying, "The call to prayer is being recited. The timing was good. We are going through a period where we need prayer. Let's wait a little."

"REFEREEING CAREER IS A QUESTION MARK"

Stating that the career of the current VAR Coordinator Assistant Yaşar Kemal Uğurlu is a question mark, Koç said, "We would also like to state that we are saddened by one issue. When we came here today, they showed us what the foreign referees within their structure wrote regarding two positions. Of course, we were stunned and amazed. It is written that the arm is in a natural position and that Jayden Oosterwolde threw himself to the ground. The federation president and his friends on the board will evaluate this. It is extremely important that it is not said that the TFF has gone bankrupt in managing Turkish football. It is to say that the success of the current president is the success of Turkish football. At the point we are at, I see this intention when I look at the change he wants to make, the mentality and culture he wants to change, and the people he has already removed from the system. But intention is not important.

You set out with a team and it needs to be reliable. I conveyed to them with the information I have how reliable it is and said, 'They have brought down many federations in the past. There were times when club presidents brought these people down.' I see that this issue is not being handled seriously. Our MHK President has managed 6 Super Lig matches in his entire life. The refereeing career and performance of our VAR Coordinator Assistant is a question mark. Because he was seen in a casino, although a casino is not a crime. He can go whenever he wants. If I were a referee, I wouldn't do it for ethical evaluation in terms of appearance. With us exposing this, a defense was requested from him. He retired before his defense arrived. He was somehow given the position of Assistant VAR Director. Inside, they told us one of the foreign referees is the VAR Director. Well, let it be so.

This person became a FIFA-badged referee but he does not know a language. He passed the FIFA online language exams with the help of someone. Because he could not pass the running tests, he received a medical report in the 2023-2024 season, and he was brought back in the 2024-2025 season. Although he should have been demoted in refereeing because he could not pass the running tests twice, he requested to be a VAR referee by submitting a petition without that process being carried out. He spent last year as a VAR referee, and after the casino incident, he was made an assistant VAR director. We are talking about two important names of the refereeing institution of a league where hundreds of millions of Euros are invested and millions follow, who have a VAR director who cannot speak a language, passed the FIFA language test with someone's help, and is a person who cannot pass the running test, and 3 VAR Directors, two of whom are foreign and cannot communicate with them. Make a note of Yaşar Kemal Uğurlu somewhere," he said.

"WE INFORMED OUR PRESIDENT"

Stating that he informed TFF President İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu on various issues, Ali Koç said, "I tried to convey the following to our president; from forgery in documents to the manipulation and sharing of exam questions, to the favoring of desired referees and the mobbing of undesired referees becoming a culture of the institution. I said, 'It is unacceptable that the current MHK President, through internet-based phone calls, calls referees and says things like I met with this president, I met with that president, let there be no trouble, and pressures them by saying to the referees he speaks to, if you go to the press, I will know it is you, and I have all the HTS records, I am close to the state, I know you are calling.' Whether the TFF participates or not, investigates or not, is up to them.

It would be a pity for a federation with this intention. It is a pity that it is hindered and troubled by an MHK President with this intention. Forgery within the institution with documents and ensuring that undesired referees leave their duties as a result are among the leading important issues. Last term, 2 people left the MHK. One was Ahmet Şahin and the other was Yunus Yıldırım. Even if our federation does not accept that this is the case, these people currently have a very large role and weight in the refereeing institution in the system. Although the president did not accept it, he said he would take it seriously. What kind of influence does he have? We explained as much as we could that this friend of ours is someone who is thanked at every event where the TFF Active Referees and Observers Association is a sponsor, who plays a role in referee assignments, who enters into some pecuniary relationships with brand names in the press for the MHK President and his board to create perception in the press, who visits Cyprus and Macedonia frequently, and who manipulates and manages referees through this association, and exerts pressure when necessary.

The Istanbul president of this association is Mr. Ferdi Karabulut. I want you to follow this closely. Even if the current federation tries to prevent it, referees are expected to be members of this association and pay a 50 thousand TL membership fee. Until today, and I think it still continues, those who do not want to be a member here have trouble with match assignments and promotions. It is an association that is forced to be joined. For example, 9 referees were promoted in the Super Lig this season. These referees are referees close to Ahmet Şahin. We are following this too. Until today, they have made no statement to any club. They only made statements in cases of assault. This is an element that is frequently experienced in the 2nd and 3rd Leagues. They make statements there. However, on October 9, 2024, they made a statement directly targeting Acun Ilıcalı. We informed our president that the match assignment system is definitely not digital but manual and that this deception must end. First of all, some referees are called via the internet and pressured. Referees are determined on Tuesday, notified to the referees on Wednesday evening, and announced on Thursday. But we conveyed to our president that the names are frequently changed between Tuesday and Wednesday evening, and that this situation gives us the impression of outside interference," he stated.

"LET THEM STOP DECEIVING THE COUNTRY"

Emphasizing that there is no merit in referee assignments, President Ali Koç continued his words as follows:

"Exam questions are being manipulated. Referees were told, 'We have your HTS records. We know what you are doing.' We have all known, read, and experienced what kind of approach this mentality is an extension of until recently. All of Turkey knows that exam questions are shared by some people at various academic education levels with people close to them. Unfortunately, a similar situation is happening in TFF exams. The Ferdi Karadoruk I mentioned sends messages to some referees saying, 'Study these questions.' This matter was forgotten before it grew. When it was reflected in the press, the TFF questioned the MHK, but we do not know the result, we are following this too. Everyone in this community knows very well who directed these questions to Ferdi Karadoruk. I will not mention this name right now. This is done so that the referees they want to rise can rise. These are assignments made not by merit but by favoritism. Let them stop deceiving the country in referee assignments. Let them announce that it is manual."

Stating that there are problems in referee training, Koç said, "There is also the issue of experienced and inexperienced referees. Inexperienced referees can naturally be affected in the matches of big teams. Look at the experience of the VAR referees assigned in the first 5 weeks of the 4 big clubs. Examine which club is sent an experienced referee and which one is sent an inexperienced one. The assignments are problematic, the exams are problematic, the people at the most important points are problematic. Referees who do not succumb to manipulation are pressured. Images from abroad, not from the Super Lig, are used in training. It is said, 'Let the clubs not come after us.' An institution that is confident in itself does not fear or shy away from this. Last year, training was held regarding simple fouls. There, 3-4 images of how easily 2 football players received fouls from a match of a team in the Super Lig, managed by Halil Umut Meler, are put into this training. This match was played on January 25, 2025. The MHK President looks at the video and removes these positions, saying, 'Are you going to make this club attack me?' We explained all of this to the president just now, let them examine it and see if it is true or not," he said.

"WHILE ONE STRUCTURE IS BEING DISMANTLED, ANOTHER STRUCTURE IS BEING ORGANIZED"

Stating that some names in the MHK have been talking about the Fenerbahçe election for a while, Ali Koç said, "Since June, the heavyweights of the MHK have been chatting among themselves about the Fenerbahçe election. They are having conversations like, 'What happens if Ali Koç leaves, what happens if Aziz Yıldırım comes, through whom can we reach them.' These are clear and witnessed conversations. These are things we said for them to investigate and take precautions because we trust the intention of the federation. For us, this is a matter of honor. We will pursue it to the end. The referee affairs coordinator is currently an active referee. According to UEFA and FIFA, this situation is not ethical. They explained why they did it this way. In our view, while one structure is being dismantled, another structure or multiple structures are being organized. The nickname of the MHK President among the referees is 'Tactical Officer'. This nickname was given because he convinces our federation president very quickly with distorted information in some way," he said.

Stating that he made a call to the President, the Minister of Justice, and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Koç said, "I want to make a call. I made this call to our TFF President. I am calling out to our esteemed President, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Youth and Sports, but most of all for the sake of the Republic of Turkey, to the referees whose rights were violated, who are idealistic but whose paths were blocked because they did not obey the system and resisted manipulations. Look, because of a nonsensical, impudent statement made by a mayor, the two communities fell out with each other at halftime of the Trabzonspor match. If that person had not made that statement, perhaps the Trabzonspor President and we would have made more moderate statements. Because of one person's statement, two communities were made blood enemies. The refereeing institution is the most important institution of football. Because of the way these people manage Turkish football, I fear that social unrest will continue to deepen and increase. We were the team that said let's give the MHK a chance, but we have also moved away from this stance. All the big teams say that there needs to be a change. I said to the president, 'Even your pit might be being dug right now. Please look at the other side of the coin as well. Do not fully rely on everything you are told. Examine the information we provide. While one structure is being cleaned up, another structure is about to be established.' They will evaluate among themselves and we will see what happens in the coming days. It is not enough for the president and his management to visit the federation for the Fenerbahçe community to put a stop to this trend. The relevant places of our state, especially our president, need to intervene in this incident. Otherwise, the bill will again be cut to the federation. We are not at this point because of good intentions, but we want to see the good intentions of our federation with the steps it will take. I am making very serious and grave allegations. An operation was conducted against us before the election. It is absurd that even the Fenerbahçe elections are talked about among referees. Because you did this, we turned this into a matter of honor and we will expose all your filth one by one. Whether we become president or not, whether we are in the management or not, you will be held accountable for this sooner or later. These things are not that simple. Until today, it was done in a simple way. If we want to protect the brand value of Turkish football, we need to focus not on punishing the managers who make statements, but on the very bad referee performances that force managers to make statements. I said it yesterday, if it's the street, it's the street, if it's social media, it's social media, we must protect our rights to the end," he said.

"WE DID NOT COME TO TAKE HEADS"

Stating that the refereeing institution could also conduct an operation against TFF President İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu, Ali Koç said, "If there were no elections on the weekend, we would have organized a big march. We have shelved all our election work. This issue is very important. We did not come here to take heads, but we came to say, 'If you are not careful, the refereeing institution will take your head.' I am addressing all relevant authorities again. There are enough elements on the street that disturb the public, let football not be one of them. Everyone wants a fair football where the referee is not talked about on the field. We want a league where the referee is not talked about after the matches, and football is talked about. I also strongly reject these arguments; approaches like 'if your goalkeeper hadn't dropped the ball, if you had pulled the plug earlier' are definitely not acceptable approaches. We are also aware, we could have played better football. This does not mean that our rights will be violated. In the Trabzon match, a goal of Trabzon was not counted. Trabzon shouted by handling the issue from its own front, we shouted by handling it from our own front. Among the foreign referees we asked, there are those who say it is a foul and those who say it is not. It is a position in the middle, but our ball that crossed the line is not a position in the middle, Onuachu receiving a red card is not a position in the middle. But these were not talked about, the canceled goal scored by Trabzonspor was talked about. We all need to call right right and wrong wrong. We need to contribute to this transformation of the federation. If the federation refrains from making this transformation, we, as the Fenerbahçe community, have to draw a different path," he expressed.

"OUR CONCERN IS A MUCH BIGGER PICTURE"

Stating that they came not because of the referee decisions in the Trabzonspor match but for the big picture, President Ali Koç said, "I did not come here for one match. I was here to explain to our president that the person at the head of the refereeing institution and his board are going to a much worse point. We also want young referees. But are young referees being made with merit, are promotions, exams being made with merit? Does the association I mentioned have a weight in the refereeing institution or not? We want to know how active Ahmet Şahin is in this institution and how much he is not. Our concern is not VAR records or anything. Our concern is a much bigger picture. The Fenerbahçe community revealed that referees filed thousands of lawsuits and our federation took precautions. It is no longer like it used to be. People who had thousands of lawsuits withdrew the lawsuits they did not tender. Now it will proceed through the federation. But in which system has it been seen that one gets insulted due to poor performance and makes law a way to earn bread?" he said.

"PROBLEMS WILL NOT BE SOLVED WITH THE CURRENT MHK PRESIDENT"

Stating that the problems will not be solved with the current MHK President Ferhat Gündoğdu, Ali Koç said, "Problems will not be solved with the current MHK President. But the long-term solution to the problem is not just foreign VAR, foreign referees; it is a proper MHK, referees trained with a merit system. I told İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu just now, and I told Mehmet Büyükekşi before; let's not send referees to UEFA. We should not send referees with our own will, but fix our own backyard and then send them. Just as football teams carry the flag, just as they try to represent our country in the best way in matches abroad, referees must also represent it in the best way. If the current staff is not capable of doing this, let's not send them until they reach the capacity to do so. Let's look at the number and importance of the matches we received in the past, and the number and importance of the matches we receive today. Let's clean our backyard, let us all have a hand in the pot. We can say that there is a change. After our extraordinary general assembly on April 2, the federation had to go to elections. The federation president was going to win a thousand percent, he could not win. Our new president came. Even if it was one match, one of the best referees in the world was sent to us. He became a VAR referee for half a season. Some referees were removed from the system. Therefore, there are steps in the right direction. Expecting a structure that has been entrenched for 25-30 years to be solved in one season is equivalent to the Fenerbahçe community expecting the dismantling of the structure only from the Fenerbahçe president and manager. We need to handle this as a community. My pessimism stems from the information, documents, and sources I have. It is not easy for foreign referees to come; it is both costly and in terms of quality," he stated.

"THERE IS A THOUGHT TRYING TO DISMANTLE THE FEDERATION"

Stating that there is also a thought trying to dismantle the TFF, President Ali Koç said, "Let the issues the federation agrees with us on remain between us. The federation door is open to every club. Everyone can come and explain their problems. We will see how much they can solve and how much they cannot. As a friend, a brother of Hacıosmanoğlu, as two people who want to clean up Turkish football with the same ideals, I tried to inform him about the people around him within the framework of the information and documents I have. Because there is a thought trying to dismantle this federation as well. But if this federation takes the problems I mentioned seriously and investigates the other side of the coin, the issues will already emerge. I believe that some issues will be resolved through the judiciary. Do not be deceived by our calmness today. Storms are breaking out inside us. We will hold those who sent these two referees to us accountable. Regarding foreign VAR, it should be seriously considered this season. But there are not enough top-level referees in Europe to come to every match. We have seen this by experiencing it. I am also against the example in Greece. If it is to happen, it should be for everyone," he said, concluding his words.

News Source: İHA