Fenerbahçe Files Official Complaint Against Galatasaray to Multiple Government Agencies

Fenerbahçe issued a statement regarding its eternal rival, Galatasaray.

Here are the statements from Board Member Fethi Pekin, responsible for legal matters:

“Due to the developments and the ongoing agenda surrounding a sports club in recent weeks, it has become more than necessary to make this statement.

Firstly, it is concerning that sufficient official steps have not been taken to address the issues that are dominating the agenda of all football fans and the public in our country.

Today, despite numerous illegal acts being carried out openly one after another, the extent to which justice has been left powerless is unprecedented in the history of Turkish football.

Turkish football is facing a mindset that:

• Sees all means as acceptable, both on and off the field, to win, with no regard for rights and laws,
• Gains an unfair material and sporting advantage by violating fair competition,
• Covers up its leading role in scandals under various guises while trampling legal, moral, and ethical values,
• Shamelessly carries out all of this while unfairly targeting its rivals to cover up its scandals.

This club openly demonstrates this approach, taking courage from the silence of the relevant authorities.

Based on this ongoing agenda, the ignored reports, the events, and the actions taken, we would like to draw the attention of the relevant state authorities and the TFF to the following points:

As it is claimed in public:

1. Isn’t creating unfair competition by underreporting the salaries of some of their players and leaving these outside of their spending limits causing tax losses for our state?

2. Transferring a high number of season tickets to a company under the guise of corporate sales, and then selling them to fans at prices far above their value, isn’t this violating the conditions of financial restructuring? Isn’t the revenue generated from this an illegal income, leading to tax evasion and unfair gains?

3. Isn’t discreetly placing the advertisement of an illegal betting company on the jersey a clear violation of the laws of our country?

Instead of making defenses and statements about the allegations of illegal acts circulating, adopting the approach of “the bold thief bullies the homeowner,” and citing the entirely legal sponsors of our club and many other Anatolian clubs as examples, is an insult to people’s intelligence.

As always, our state suffers financial loss, and attempts are made to harm other clubs as well.

This mentality, which sees itself as untouchable and, with an arrogant and condescending attitude, believes that “nothing will happen to us,” assumes it can fool everyone.

As Fenerbahçe Sports Club, we invite all relevant individuals and institutions to duty, to cleanse Turkish football, which belongs to millions, from these wrongdoings, to address the injustices both on and off the field, and to ensure that every unethical act is held accountable before the law.

We would like to state that we will follow through with the applications and complaints we have made to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Finance (Tax Inspection Board Presidency), the CMB, the Spor Toto Organization Presidency, the Banks Association, and the TFF.

Our expectation from our state is that the necessary legal steps are taken as soon as possible, and that the issues we have outlined are thoroughly investigated and the public is informed.

Justice is the order of society. Where there is no justice, nothing can be in accordance with rights and laws, and fair competition in sports cannot take place under equal conditions.

There should no longer be any tolerance for unfair competition in both sports and economics, and the continued damage to Turkish football should not be met with silence.”