Yıldırım Confident: “We Will Bring Back the Glory Days to Fenerbahçe”
One of Fenerbahçe's former presidents, Aziz Yıldırım, announced his candidacy ahead of the presidential election to be held at the yellow-navy blue club.
While detailing his meeting with Jose Mourinho, Aziz Yıldırım made statements about the election.
Starting his speech by saying, “I said I wouldn’t fight with anyone, but if they fight with me, I will,” Aziz Yıldırım continued, “Our concern is for Fenerbahçe to become the champion. Championships elevate clubs and communities in terms of power. Six years ago, when I left, everyone said, ‘Aziz Yıldırım is gone, Turkish football is saved.’ Unfortunately, today they say, ‘Aziz Yıldırım should come back to save Turkish football.'”
Aziz Yıldırım continued, “Fenerbahçe will never run out of money. Why did I make this club public? I could have made thousands of people members and stayed president until I died. I launched the ‘1 Million Members’ campaign. Fenerbahçe is one of Turkey’s largest civil society organizations. Nothing happens without Fenerbahçe’s approval. When united, anything is possible. If not united, Fenerbahçe cannot achieve anything.”
Regarding his candidacy decision for the upcoming presidential election at Fenerbahçe, Aziz Yıldırım said, “Why did I become a candidate? I had no intention. I was content. But I saw some problems at Fenerbahçe. We need to do something. What will we do? I told my friends, one of you should be a candidate, and we will proceed that way. They said, ‘We won’t be candidates while you’re around.’ So I had to step in. Because I was president for 20 years. We won the league championship six times, even in tough times. We managed for 20 years.”
“WE WILL WIN THE DERBY AND START A NEW ERA”
Aziz Yıldırım also commented on the elections, “We did not obstruct the current club president’s efforts. We were not in opposition; we remained silent. When we spoke, I emphasized the unity and solidarity of the community. Since January 2024, I have been consistently calling for calm. I called our community to support our football team. This week we will win the derby, and a new era will begin. The current president said, as long as I am the president of Fenerbahçe, they will not make Fenerbahçe champions. We all heard it. We discussed this matter thoroughly with my friends. Who does not want us to be champions?” “I am coming based on one statement; ‘They won’t make Fenerbahçe champions while I am here.’ The last thing Fenerbahçe should lose is the hope of winning. Once this is lost, there will be no return. We are at the last stop for returning to brighter days.” he said.
“I WILL COME FOR 3 YEARS”
Aziz Yıldırım stated that if elected, he would serve for three years, “I will come for three years. Even if I want more than three years, I cannot do it. A six-year rest showed us this.”
Aziz Yıldırım, recounting his meeting with Jose Mourinho, said, “I spoke face-to-face with Mourinho. He told his side, and we told ours. We have not talked about money yet. He said he watched the Konya match. One candidate spoke on the phone, the current president talked to his agent. Then I heard on TV, ‘He will get 12 million for himself, and 3 million for his team. Is this money given to him?’ What is it to you? If we agree on terms, he will come. He is not going to Saudi Arabia. He does not need the money. When someone up high is involved, they pull you up. For instance, when Roberto Carlos came, he said we would play the final in Europe and become champions. He told this to all the players. Inter, PSV, Chelsea, Sevilla… This happened with that motivation. We need leaders who will strengthen and guide. There is no financial problem.”
“I WILL PAY HALF OF MOURINHO’S SALARY IF WE LOSE”
Aziz Yıldırım called on Ali Koç regarding Jose Mourinho, “There will be an election on June 9. I don’t know if Mourinho will wait or not. My offer to this administration is, if they are considering working with Jose Mourinho, I will ask Şekip Mosturoğlu to arrange for both sides to send representatives and sign the contract. Whoever is elected should continue with Mourinho. If we lose, I will pay half of Mourinho’s salary.”
Aziz Yıldırım, stating that he had not had any recent contact with Fenerbahçe Beko’s former head coach Zeljko Obradovic, said, “We haven’t spoken with Obradovic for 3-4 months. The basketball team’s coach is doing well. If things are going well, they should not be disturbed. If things go wrong, then we will look into it. Hopefully, they will become champions.”
Aziz Yıldırım continued, “There is a dead weight on Fenerbahçe. Four years from us, six more years, for ten years now, there has been a dead weight. We will solve this through collective effort. We will pay off the bank debt. If we don’t, it will be a big problem. Therefore, I ask all of you to work together to fix this. I am not coming to pay off the debt; I am coming to make Fenerbahçe champions. The only thing I am pointing out is the bank debt. We will make Fenerbahçe champions and make the children happy. We will all be happy together.”
