President Erdoğan Calls for Higher Standards and Fair Play in Turkish Football
Fenerbahçe President Ali Koç and board members visited President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at Beştepe.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated, “I always remind our sports clubs at every opportunity that we must now leave behind the petty arguments and tense atmosphere that cast a shadow over our sports and provide viewers with a football feast in the new season. Especially in the current period, we really need this.”
Erdoğan welcomed the President of Fenerbahçe Sports Club, Ali Koç, and the accompanying board members at the Presidential Complex.
In his speech during the reception, President Erdoğan expressed his pleasure in hosting the management of Fenerbahçe Sports Club.
President Erdoğan emphasized that Fenerbahçe, with its 117-year history, millions of fans, valuable athletes, and historic achievements, is one of the pride of Turkish sports. He continued:
“Fenerbahçe, which has history in its roots, continues to be a source of pride for its fans and the millions who support it today. Like our other clubs, we have always supported Fenerbahçe in every need and have always been proud and happy with its successes. Inshallah, Fenerbahçe will continue to make us proud and wave our flag with the successes it achieves. I want to emphasize this point: our sports clubs are, of course, rivals to each other, but especially the successes they achieve abroad are the successes of all of us as a nation. With this understanding, we see Fenerbahçe’s successes as the successes of Turkish sports and take pride in them. It is important that we all work together, with unity and solidarity, to strengthen Turkish football.”
“We Need to Focus on Common Ground, Not Differences”
President Erdoğan remarked that the 2024 European Football Championship both gives hope and shows that their job will not be easy.
“We need to reach such a level in terms of football quality that even injustices cannot stand between us and our goals,” said Erdoğan, emphasizing that they will continue to work with high motivation, renew, and address shortcomings.
He expressed confidence that if they maintain the momentum they’ve achieved, they will do better in future tournaments and added:
“Achieving these successes is not just about financial matters. The quality of our leagues, the viewership, the brand value, and especially the level of competition in the games must be improved with fair play. I always remind our sports clubs that we must now leave behind the petty arguments and tense atmosphere that cast a shadow over our sports and provide viewers with a football feast in the new season. Especially in the current period, we really need this. While we are surrounded by a ring of fire, we need more than ever to understand each other, listen, and empathize. We need to focus on common ground, not our differences. I always say that we need the unifying power of sports. We expect the utmost sensitivity from all our teams, managers, and athletes on this issue.”
“I Wish Fenerbahçe Success in the Europa League”
Erdoğan stated that, as always, he is closely following Fenerbahçe this season and tries to watch their matches whenever possible.
Highlighting that Fenerbahçe, which started the season earlier due to European qualifiers, has continued to successfully reflect its dynamism on the field since the first match, Erdoğan said:
“Of course, we would have liked to watch Fenerbahçe in the Champions League and experience that excitement again, but unfortunately, we were eliminated in an unlucky way. I believe Fenerbahçe will make significant progress in the Europa League, which will begin next week. I sincerely wish success to Fenerbahçe and our other clubs in their European matches. I congratulate Mr. Ali Koç, who was re-elected as club president at the 90th Ordinary Congress held in June, and your board of directors, and I wish you all great success from God. Thank you again for your visit.”
“We Are the Club Providing the Most Athletes for the Olympics”
Ali Koç thanked President Erdoğan for taking the time to meet with them.
Koç emphasized that they had long needed to meet with President Erdoğan, and said:
“For three consecutive Olympics, we have been the club providing the most athletes to the games by a wide margin. This year, we provided 27 athletes. After us, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality provided 11 athletes. At the same time, we are achieving success both in men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball, both domestically and internationally. We are champions in most of them, winning cups, and in Europe, we at least reach the semifinals. Our women’s basketball team became European champions twice in a row, and for the first time, we brought the European Super Cup to our country. In other areas, whether it’s medals, records, table tennis, athletics, rowing, sailing, or boxing, in any sport we are involved in, thank God, we are doing very well.”
During the reception, Ali Koç presented a signed jersey to President Erdoğan. President Erdoğan also took a commemorative photo with Ali Koç and the delegation.
At the reception, Youth and Sports Minister Osman Aşkın Bak, Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, Chief Advisor to the President on Foreign Policy and Security Akif Çağatay Kılıç, AK Party İzmir MP Alpay Özalan, and MHP Kocaeli MP Saffet Sancaklı were also present.
