Fenerbahçe President Ali Koç Promises Fenerbahçe’s Dream Team: “You Will Be Proud”
Fenerbahçe President Ali Koç announced that they would build a strong squad for the new season and achieve championship success. Koç stated, "With the reinforcements we will make, we will build the dream team of Fenerbahçe's history, the team you will be most proud of. As the coach said, this team may not collect 99 points, but it will be champion."
Ahead of this weekend’s ordinary elective general assembly at Fenerbahçe, club president Ali Koç spoke about future goals and the election agenda at a meeting with congress members at the Istanbul Congress Center.
Starting his speech by saying, “We did not intentionally make any mistakes. We did not do anything to embarrass or shame you. We have gained a lot of experience at this point,” Ali Koç continued, “We all know the state of the club when we took over. All our receivables were pledged. At that point, we had to pay 17 million euros. We had a debt of 612 million euros. According to our then-president Aziz Yıldırım, Fenerbahçe was bankrupt.”
“OUR PATH IS CLEAR FROM NOW ON”
Koç went on, “We took over Fenerbahçe in poor conditions. The football team did not have a chest sponsor. They brought the club to a point where it couldn’t find one. Next year our squad will be even better. Friends, believe me, our path is clear from now on. It will be easier going forward. Last year we had 56 million euros in transfer sales. Ultimately, we exceeded both local and UEFA’s financial fair play limits and built one of the best squads in our history. You may see our squad as unsuccessful. We beat everyone but couldn’t beat the system.”
Noting the increase in advertising revenues, Ali Koç said, “When our squad value was 70 million euros, it is now around 200 million euros. We increased our advertising revenues to 200 million dollars. We will increase it further. We are no longer hindered by UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules. That’s why today Jose Mourinho is at Fenerbahçe.”
“WE WILL BUILD THE TEAM YOU WILL BE MOST PROUD OF”
Regarding transfers, Ali Koç said, “Our team is strong. The success of our team is undeniable. We beat everything but couldn’t beat the system. The time to beat it is coming. With the reinforcements we will make, we will build the dream team of Fenerbahçe’s history, the team you will be most proud of. As the coach said, this team may not collect 99 points, but it will be champion.”
About the new head coach Jose Mourinho, Ali Koç said, “Do not just see Mourinho as a great coach coming to Fenerbahçe. This winner character, one of the top 5 coaches in history, will do great things for Fenerbahçe. We are aware of the impact Mourinho has created in our community. We are all excited. We took our first step very strongly, and more will come.”
