Statement from Fenerbahçe ahead of April 2 General Assembly!

Fenerbahçe’s Board Member Responsible for Communication, Can Gebetaş, made statements to Fenerbahçe Television before the Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting to be held on Tuesday, April 2nd.

Addressing the events that occurred during the Trabzonspor match and providing information about the Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting scheduled for April 2nd, Gebetaş made the following statements:

“Hundreds of fans invaded the field”

“The agenda initiated by the events following the Trabzonspor match continues a day later with the decision of our Board to convene an Extraordinary General Assembly on April 2nd.

Fenerbahçe has not had a minor incident in Trabzon. During my student years, I attended the Trabzonspor away matches as a fan. Although there has been an away game ban in recent years, during periods when the ban was occasionally lifted in 2002-2003, I was in Trabzon as a fan a few times. After my student years, during my journalism years, I followed the matches there. I watched the match as an administrator for the last time. It was one of the most traumatic Trabzon away matches I have experienced in a 20-year period. Because hundreds of fans invaded the field. Frankly, I witnessed physical interventions towards the athletes for the first time, on behalf of Fenerbahçe. Although various incidents similar to this have occurred on that field before, none of them reached this level of scale and seriousness.

“Not the last straw, but one of the final straws”

The ineffectiveness of the precautions taken before the Trabzonspor match, among many reasons that can be listed, led to the emergence of images we never wanted. I would also like to state that the incidents during the Trabzonspor match are not the sole reason for the decision of the Extraordinary General Assembly on April 2nd. In fact, it’s not the last straw, but one of the final straws.

“We will discuss what can be done”

Fenerbahçe Sports Club has begun to be seen as a club that has been increasingly marginalized and pushed out of the system in sporting and non-sporting matters over the past 20-25 years. Therefore, a day after the incidents, we, as the Board, gathered here. We concluded that unless Fenerbahçe reacts to these issues, such as the Denizli away match, July 3rd, the Coup Plot Case, etc., this situation will continue. In this regard, we made our call for an Extraordinary General Assembly on April 2nd.

What will we do in this General Assembly? We will discuss what the community can do against the injustices and inequities Fenerbahçe has been subjected to for years.

“We will sit down and talk together”

Especially here, we agreed that such an important and historic decision should not be made solely by the Fenerbahçe Board of Directors, and we felt that we must shape the future of our Club by consulting with all our congress members. Therefore, we are taking a step in this context.

On April 2nd, we will sit down together and discuss what Fenerbahçe Sports Club can do in its future roadmap.

“They need to know they determine the fate of the fans”

Of course, there could be 3-4 different alternatives. An environment may emerge where an unexpected idea can be discussed in the speeches of our congress members. But one thing is certain, Fenerbahçe will have to respond to these unjust behaviors.

I especially want to emphasize that Fenerbahçe Sports Club is a very large sports club with 25-30 million fans. There are 50 thousand congress members. I want to make an important call to each of the average 50 thousand congress members here: 50 thousand congress members have the right to decide on the future of Fenerbahçe, but each individual must also remember that they carry the responsibility of representing 25 million fans spread across Turkey on their shoulders when they come here. So, they shouldn’t come here just for themselves and because they are obligated to be a Fenerbahçe Congress Member; they should know that they represent the fate of 25 million fans on their shoulders.

“We all need to make a decision together”

I would like to elaborate on this topic a bit more. It is impossible for a congress member of Fenerbahçe Sports Club to be under 18 years of age. But we have millions of fans under the age of 18, we have millions of fans at a young age. Therefore, we must all make a decision together for the future of Fenerbahçe with the responsibility of all of them.

I believe that all our congress members must feel this responsibility in their hearts until they come, and we must make a decision together for the future of Fenerbahçe.”