Fenerbahçe Vice President Acun Ilıcalı's admission: 'It was more than I expected'

Participating in the program 'Futbolun 100’ü' with Ersin Düzen on tv100, Ilıcalı made statements regarding the latest situation in the championship race, foreign referees, the statements of Galatasaray General Secretary Eray Yazgan, and other topics on the agenda.

Highlights from Acun Ilıcalı's statements are as follows:

We are going through a busy agenda. Although our football team started the season slowly, it is currently at a good point. We have united as a community. We are excited. We want to be successful. The workload and concentration were more than I expected. Since it was our own choice, it would be shameful to complain.

Everything in my life has changed; my lifestyle has changed. Normally, my life was spent in the air. This was a situation I didn't expect, but I am proud. My lifestyle has completely changed. I am living a new period, a difficult period. I am in a different phase.

"A SOURCE OF PRIDE FOR ME"

Being an executive for the team I fell in love with as a child, whose matches I attended, and whose side I was on, is a source of pride for me. My childhood is filled with so many Fenerbahçe memories...

Now I am in the locker room of that team, I am the press spokesperson, I am conducting transfer negotiations. These are sources of pride for me. That is why I am very happy.

"I DIDN'T KNOW I WOULD MEET SUCH A WONDERFUL MANAGEMENT"

I was in an environment I had never been in before. For over 20 years, I have been the sole decision-maker in my own business, of course by consulting. But here, I am not the only decision-maker. This requires me to adapt to a system. I am experiencing my early days, but I didn't know I would meet such a wonderful management. There were names I knew, but there were also people I met for the first time. We had our board meeting recently. There was a very beautiful atmosphere.

"I WILL NEVER FORGET HIS SACRIFICES FOR FENERBAHÇE"

I want to open a parenthesis here; a very valuable name for me, the late Mehmet Dereli, has passed away. He was someone whose heart beat for Fenerbahçe. We became close 5 years ago, and he caught a bad illness. I will never forget his sacrifices for Fenerbahçe. I also suffered psychological damage when I lost him. We named our meeting room after him. Losing someone very close is very sad. I wish God's mercy upon Mehmet once again.

"WE WERE DISAPPOINTED IN THE RANGERS MATCH"

We were disappointed, we were unlucky. A goal we conceded due to our own mistake changed the chemistry of the game. In football, you don't always get what you want. That's why I'm sad. There are positions we missed. Rangers is also an important and strong team. Once they got the advantage, they knew how to use it. It was a very bad score for us. This exists in football. There is a return leg on Thursday. I am hopeful.

"MOURINHO WANTS TO PASS THE ROUND"

I trust the quality of our team. We are a good and strong team. We are stronger than Rangers. But I said if we score an early goal in the second match, a lot will change, but our coach has another plan in mind. We talked, Mourinho also really wants to pass the round. Fenerbahçe has been the team that has gone the furthest in Europe in Turkey.

"EVERYONE IS CONCENTRATED ON THURSDAY"

In our view, our consistency in Europe is important. We have reached a good place again. We are playing in March again. It is a source of pride. Everyone is concentrated on Thursday right now."

"IT COULD BE AN ADVANTAGE FOR US"

Let me explain it with my own football eye: if we had lost 2-0 to an Italian team, I would say our hope is low. But this is a team from the English school. Scottish teams are not in the spirit of closing down as a result. This could be an advantage for us. I don't think they will close down in my mind. I think that will also be a chance for us.

HOW DOES MOURINHO VIEW TURKEY?

His view of Turkey, I can say he fell in love with Turkey. He loves our country very much. He is in good spirits, he is happy to be with us. Before coming, he had watched the match we played against Galatasaray. He didn't understand why Djiku was sent off. We said then that there was a problem with the referees. In our subsequent meeting, he said he was surprised. We told him that referee performances were poor and that he should be prepared. He was very surprised; there is the fact that he watched with bewildered eyes. I don't find it very unfair. There are serious question marks regarding referees in Turkish football. Other than that, he is adapting to Turkey more every day.

There are few coaches who do not have problems with referees. Having problems with referees is one thing, and thinking that the problem is general is another.

"IT IS A FACT THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE MAJORITY OF REFEREES IN TURKEY"

Did Mourinho say he saw privilege for any team in England? It is a fact that there is a problem with the majority of referees in Turkey.

"MOURINHO UNDERSTOOD THE TURKISH LEAGUE, HE CHANGED THE TACTIC"

Dzeko was our first striker, En-Nesyri arrived. It was thought that En-Nesyri would be the first striker. When he adapted to Dzeko, our coach wanted to use them together. That's why he had to change the system. We changed that system, then the team played better, performance started to rise. That's why he is Mourinho. Is there anyone among us who can call these cups a coincidence, someone who has cups close to a big team that every sane person should respect? He came from the beginning, looked, examined, understood the Turkish League. He changed the tactic in Turkey.

"THE SKRINIAR TRANSFER IS ALI KOÇ'S TRANSFER"

I think the mid-season transfers were very good. We made all the transfers we wanted. Let our fans know well, we targeted, we said let these happen, we said let these names be. I think we made pinpoint transfers. This period paralyzed me. I must have had 30 video conferences for Talisca. It was a very difficult process. I felt the Ali Koç difference to the core regarding Skriniar. The Skriniar transfer is our president's transfer. The friendship between the PSG president and Ali Koç is another dimension; our president is the one who organized the club easily in that transfer and brought the transfer to life in an instant. We finished that transfer in 1.5-2 days very comfortably.

"MIMOVIC SAID 'IF FENERBAHÇE IS THERE, I WON'T GO'"

Diego Carlos is a very important transfer. We had actually taken more. The Italian leader became a candidate for Maximin, whom I praised for playing well. Wasn't this player in Turkey? He received a transfer offer, the team that received it was Napoli. That is, Osimhen's old team. Napoli put us under pressure for days and said do whatever you want. They offered a serious amount. Thinking he would leave, we bought Mimovic. It came to me from Mario and Okan. I told our president and he believed it too. We finished that transfer too. We even turned the plane around on the road for that transfer! The kid heard us and said, 'What, Fenerbahçe!' That's why I'm proud. He was going to another team. He said if Fenerbahçe is there, I won't go. That process also went well. We made good transfers.

"TUTA DID NOT WANT TO COME BECAUSE MY WIFE GAVE BIRTH"

We met with Tuta. His wife had just given birth. That's why he didn't want to come. But there were alternatives. Skriniar was one. Carlos and Tuta were there. When there was a problem with Tuta, we bought Carlos.

TRANSFER OFFER FOR CENK TOSUN

Yes, it's true. I can't say he's leaving, there is an offer. Cenk is a quality footballer and a very good person. I think Cengiz Ünder is very successful in America. We had to accept it with sadness. The same situation applies to Cenk. It could be a loan until the end of the season.

"WE HAD A VERBAL DISCUSSION FOR YUSUF AKÇİÇEK"

We had a verbal discussion for Yusuf Akçiçek. After the Anderlecht match, a message came from England saying, "Today it became 20 million." We are not thinking of selling.

I received criticism for defending En-Nesyri. After that, our president received the same criticism for Oğuz Aydın. These are one side of football, but I am very happy that we were not embarrassed. Our transfers don't fit into the starting 11. Amrabat, Oğuz Aydın, Kostic. We made very good transfers. Napoli wanted the least liked Maximin. It was the same in winter. Our coach wanted 3, we got 5. Our coach also thinks about why he wants this, he also thinks about the club.

"WE ARE VERY HOPEFUL ABOUT TALISCA"

Talisca did not have a camp at the beginning of the season. He hadn't played for 1-1.5 years either. We are very hopeful about Talisca.

JOSE MOURINHO BEING REFERRED TO THE PFDK

Honestly, I didn't understand this last referral at all. A sentence he used in English might have changed due to a wrong expression in the translation. He is telling an event he experienced. He is telling an event he experienced in Turkey to the foreign press. Why was there a referral regarding this, I am surprised. I didn't understand that.

"BARIŞ ALPER TOOK THE FIELD A WEEK LATER"

I had connected to the broadcast after the derby too. I have to say some things. Mr. Eray spoke about me, I have to answer them. If they said, "Mourinho said a rude word, this word shouldn't be said, it didn't suit him," that would have a valid side. But the Galatasaray side is trying to carry events somewhere. Then it doesn't happen! I was very sad for Barış Alper. I am waiting for news. A Galatasaray commentator said let him be sent out of the country for Manaj. Yunus said we are all crying inside, maybe he won't be able to play at the end of the season. Barış Alper took the field a week later. The event is already bad, you don't need to carry it anywhere. Then it doesn't happen.

"MOURINHO IS NOT BEING RACIST"

When Mourinho said "He jumped like a monkey," he is not being racist. Haven't you ever seen that this man has nothing to do with it! There is no such thing. A 4-match ban. What did he do, he went to the referee's room. He complained to the Turkish referee.

"THE REFEREE ON THE OTHER SIDE DOES NOT REPORT THE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT HIMSELF"

Doesn't another referee write these down when threatened? Kadir Sağlam wrote it in his report. "You would ruin it" is not an insult there. But the referee on the other side does not report the conversations about himself, that referee reports it. The penalty comes from there. We couldn't make sense of that last referral either.

Mr. Eray, thank you, he also likes to carry the event somewhere in his statements. He likes to extract a story from somewhere. You Turks, Mourinho said, does Mourinho have such an expression, have you ever seen it? I haven't seen such a word from him even once. Will racism come out of here too! Monkey was said, Drogba came out! There is no beyond this! I warned that day not to carry it to Europe, people made fun of the Galatasaray management. Did you see any support? Did one person come out? The players supported, did one person say racist?"

Then it doesn't happen! This man does not say, "You Turks never." We also criticize football. Are we also racist? He doesn't say you Turks, he doesn't humiliate us. He objects to the oddities in football! Foreign VAR came, it means there is a problem that foreign VAR came. We want it on the field now too. He made a criticism about this. I didn't understand this either."

"WHAT DOES GALATASARAY WANT REGARDING FOREIGN REFEREES?"

They said from the other side that we were the first to want foreign VAR. I respect that. If we had the power, we would have brought it in September anyway. There is a statement from Galatasaray regarding foreign VAR, they say foreign VAR is not for justice but for privilege. They say thief, I understand this. Foreign VAR is there to ask for privilege for us. I am calling out to all of Turkey. There are two controversial positions in the Fenerbahçe - Rizespor match. The player who saw the red card admitted that he saw the red card because he said something to the referee. There is nothing to discuss. Put that in your pocket. The second position is the penalty position. Everyone said penalty to this too, they are wrestling, they gave it in the Champions League too. Galatasaray is making a statement on these two positions. There may be a referee error. In the match where this statement was made, both are correct decisions. They also say we don't want foreign VAR!

I know what Beşiktaş and Trabzonspor want. What does Galatasaray want regarding foreign referees?

"DOES SOMEONE WHO WANTS FOREIGN IN VAR WANT LOCAL THERE?"

Will a football club want foreign VAR and want a local referee regarding foreign referees? Does someone who wants the referee in VAR to be foreign want a local one there? The team that made this statement, you wanted foreign VAR, you say thief. I didn't understand. Did we connect the foreign VAR, my intelligence is not enough! You wanted it! There is opposition to whatever is asked, it is not clear what is wanted. Why, they take positions according to the situation.

"8 WITH LOCAL VAR, 4 WITH FOREIGN"

The federation was late. There was an 8-point difference with local VAR. After that, foreign VAR came. Foreign VAR came, the point difference is currently four. If foreign referees don't come, if they continue with Turkish referees, we think they are under influence and we are very pessimistic!

"THERE IS SO MUCH LACK OF CONSCIENCE"

Eray Bey's team hasn't lost a match yet! This is very funny, I say this many yellow cards haven't been given, they say we saw this many cards. The issue is not that you saw a card. Not giving a card is something else. I say this many cards were not seen, here a card was not given to us either. There is so much lack of conscience...

"NO FOX IS TURNING IN MY HEAD"

Have Galatasaray executives ever said there was an error in our favor? I said it after the Trabzonspor match. No fox is turning in my head. We say whatever is in our heads. We don't want errors in our favor. We want justice. We think local referees are under pressure. That's why we want foreign referees. A foreign referee came, managed a good match and left. Everyone made a statement. Trabzonspor, Beşiktaş, we want it.

"WE ALSO WANT A FOREIGN REFEREE FOR THE CUP MATCH"

We want a foreign referee for the home match (Galatasaray cup), we also want it for the Beşiktaş match. We want justice.

"LAST YEAR A LOCAL REFEREE LEFT US WITH 10 MEN"

Ersin Düzen: "Are you saying we can't be champions with Turkish referees?"

Acun Ilıcalı: We say this, a single error can determine the champion. In the 20th minute, a local referee left us with 10 men at Rams Park. He shows a red card in the 20th minute, I played with 10 men for 70 minutes in the most critical match. Arda Kardeşler continued after us. After that, the first derby match was Galatasaray - Beşiktaş match. What did he do, he didn't give 8 yellow, 2 red cards. The same referee. 11 referees say the same thing. How can we trust now? Is there any logic to this, why should we trust?

"THE ONLY CONTROVERSIAL POSITION IN THE DERBY IS AGAINST US"

There is only one controversial position (Mario Lemina) in the derby. That is not important to me. Why are those who keep this issue hot because he is from Maribor silent about referees whose team is unknown whether they are Fenerbahçe or Galatasaray managing matches? Why don't we know? The referee from Maribor explained it like a man, he doesn't manage the Maribor match. Why are the teams that referees support not looked at in Turkey?

"CAN'T WE FIND A REFEREE?"

Can't we find a referee in a country that has reached 90 million? Those who object to this, create a crisis out of this because he is a Maribor referee, and shake the country for 3 days say Fenerbahçe referee, don't let him manage! We don't want such a thing! Let these referees withdraw first.

"OUR STANCE ON FOREIGN REFEREES IS CLEAR"

Our stance has been clear from the very beginning. A foreign referee came and everyone made a statement saying we want it. It is the most natural thing in the world for the federation to want to try something and re-apply it after being successful. There is only one person who doesn't like it, Okan Hoca. That's his comment, I can't say anything. They asked a Galatasaray player in the same match, they asked Osimhen, he said the referee was quite good. The one playing in the match liked it. Okan Hoca didn't like it. That's his opinion, but other than that, no one came out who didn't like it. Trabzonspor and Beşiktaş also liked it and wanted the same referee. The majority of Turkish football liked it. These are already top-level referees.

"THE ONLY ONE WHO DOESN'T LIKE THE FOREIGN REFEREE IS OKAN BURUK"

Our stance has been clear from the very beginning. A foreign referee came and everyone made a statement saying we want it. It is the most natural thing in the world for the federation to want to try something and re-apply it after being successful. There is only one person who doesn't like it, Okan Hoca. That's his comment, I can't say anything.

"LET FOREIGN REFEREES MANAGE THE MATCHES OF TEAMS PLAYING FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP UNTIL THE END OF THE LEAGUE"

They asked a Galatasaray player in the same match, they asked Osimhen, he said the referee was quite good. The one playing in the match liked it. Okan Hoca didn't like it. That's his opinion, but other than that, no one came out who didn't like it. Trabzonspor and Beşiktaş also liked it and wanted the same referee. The majority of Turkish football liked it. These are already top-level referees. Our view is that foreign referees should manage the matches of teams playing for the championship until the end of the league. We want foreign referees, our stance has been clear from the beginning!

"IF YOU SAY COME ON, THEY DON'T COME"

Mr. Eray says it was pushed, it is being pushed. If referees were pushing, let me ask him why they don't want foreign referees. Something very funny happened this year, Mr. İbrahim made a statement on referee errors. He said let the foreign referee come and look. They count these, that wasn't given, this wasn't given, if you say come on, they don't come anyway! According to whom wasn't it given, according to what? Instead of claiming these and stepping aside, they said let the foreign referee come and look, and we said the same thing.

WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN HIM AND İBRAHİM HATİPOĞLU

"We started a dialogue with Mr. İbrahim. We determined the day, the referee, and the date. Everything is clear. I also made a statement. Is there a mistake here, do you see a mistake here? The names were discussed mutually. Was this a secret operation, I gave general information about this subject. I made a statement because journalists asked me.

They gave up because I said this. Why did I announce it in advance, what's wrong with that? I announced it in advance. We learned from journalists close to you that you would return positively. How can you explain this, I am offended, I am not in it. There is no situation for them to come in any way! Mr. Eray said Acun Ilıcalı is traveling from channel to channel, I connected on top of that. Before that, I participated in a program 1-1.5 years ago. They say he is traveling from channel to channel.

"I CAN'T MAKE 9 INTO 15"

"After the Galatasaray match, I said when did they see 5 yellow cards here? I said here (Ali Sami Yen), Mr. Eray, I am talking about the yellow cards seen here. Everything I mentioned is related to that place. I can't make 9 into 15. I mean you didn't see it at Ali Sami Yen.

"THERE WERE 4 YELLOW CARDS FOR DAVINSON SANCHEZ IN THE BEŞİKTAŞ MATCH"

There were 4 yellow cards for Davinson Sanchez in the Beşiktaş match, if he gave two, it would be a red card. While there was an Eyüpspor match, did he step on the opponent footballer's foot with both feet, did everyone say red card, didn't everyone say red card to Immobile being brought down? We are saying those, they say Fenerbahçe never saw a red card. We are not saying no errors were made in our favor! We are saying there is an imbalance. That's the whole issue. Has a Galatasaray executive ever said an error was made in our favor? They don't have such a system!

In the Galatasaray - Trabzonspor match, if he gave the obvious offside in the 90th minute, the match would be over anyway. He never raised that flag, there was a foul there, it was a goal. We always see the same movie over and over again. We don't want to see this movie. Trabzonspor doesn't want to see it either. Today, everyone, including Beşiktaş and Trabzonspor fans, wants a foreign referee. This is not our request. Let no one try to show it like this.

Everyone in the Clubs Association said yes to foreign VAR, that's how it came. They are manipulating the subject, it doesn't happen when we want it. Aren't we angry at our federation? I didn't speak for a while about foreign VAR. We made a decision, we said it will definitely be seen, it was seen and foreign VAR came. Peace came.

"WE ARE UNDER A VERY BIG THREAT"

We are under a very big threat. Young referees are under pressure, some of them have been dismissed. Why don't we bring a foreign referee and relax?

"FOR THE FIRST TIME THE DERBY PASSED PEACEFULLY"

If I were the federation president, I would also receive criticism. We don't like every decision. We don't like the penalty given to our coach. We don't have to like every decision. But if we look at it in general, foreign referee was a very important first. For the first time in a long time, the derby passed peacefully. It lowered the energy of the most tense derby. It is the discretion of the federation regarding the future. Our view is clear.

"80 PERCENT OF THE TENSION IS BECAUSE OF THE REFEREES"

Why should a Fenerbahçe referee be given to my match, we don't want it either. 80 percent of the tension in Turkey is based on the referees being malicious, that's why football cannot be thought about. Referees are not talked about in England, referees are not talked about in Germany. Because there is no such claim, everyone's team is clear, it's not in ours.

"WE DON'T LIKE THE DISTRIBUTION OF ERRORS"

We are not saying referees cannot make mistakes, we are saying a foreign referee can also make mistakes, but we don't like the distribution of errors. That's why our claim is negative regarding referees. We are saying that the referees' minds are not clear. The reason we complain about the referees is that we don't think their minds are clear.

BROADCASTING THE VAR RECORDS OF THE GALATASARAY- ADANA DEMİRSPOR MATCH

I wondered what bothered Galatasaray there? I am asking out of curiosity, there is a match that was left unfinished and there was an uproar in the country, after the match there is a statement against us again, one of the topics I laughed at the most. In the Galatasaray match, the player throws himself to the ground, the referee was deceived and gave a penalty, then the team withdrew from the field.

"WHY DID WE BECOME THE SUBJECT?"

They made a statement saying thieves after our match, wouldn't we have the right to make a statement then? Why did we suddenly become the subject here? Mertens who threw himself to the ground, the referee who gave the penalty, Adana Demirspor who withdrew from the field. The federation also made a statement about this.

I don't have to go into the details of the job now. What is there to be bothered by this? They showed the transparency of the event. It's not a subject that concerns us very much. The allegations regarding Galatasaray are not asked in the agenda in any way, they are not talked about in any way.

News Source: 12punto