A classic Turkish story… Like the “You will either be mine or your land” story, those with presidential ambitions at Galatasaray and the groups they formed entered an extreme rivalry, straying from their core purpose and rendering the club inoperable. The real goal here is to free Galatasaray from financial difficulties, bring it to sporting success, serve Turkish sports in both professional and amateur branches to the best of their ability, and achieve international success in every field.
However, the elections held approximately 10 months ago, which had become a blood feud, ushered in a new era. In the closely contested election, four candidates competed fiercely. Burak Elmas emerged victorious by a narrow margin. He was followed by Eşref Hamamcıoğlu, Metin Öztürk, and Yiğit Şardan. Burak Elmas’s management celebrated their victory with great enthusiasm. This enthusiasm can be seen in the image below:
Perhaps witnessing this genuine joy, his opponents became even more ambitious and lashed out at Burak Elmas and his management, waiting for them to make a mistake.
My initial friendly advice and concerns
At the time, I wrote an article titled “Friendly advice for Galatasaray’s new president, Elmas”: https://www.serhansuzer.com/tr/galatasarayimizin-yeni-baskani-elmasa-dost-tavsiyeleri
In five of the 11 recommendations I offered in this article, I emphasized that sports are a stage and that actions should be exemplary in this environment of conflict. I emphasized the importance of conflict and strife in the following points:
1) The conflict between high school students and others,
2) Changing the perspective of the championship as the sole achievement in football,
3) The Galatasaray-Fenerbahçe feud,
4) UltrAslan,
5) Friendship and brotherhood in the country.
I recommend you read it.
Unresolved ugly rivalries and factions
Unfortunately, the events I have repeatedly written about and highlighted continue to occur. This atmosphere of conflict has not diminished; on the contrary, it has intensified. Perhaps I wish I could say that the Galatasaray-Fenerbahçe rivalry has calmed down due to the personal friendship between Ali Koç and Burak Elmas, but after witnessing the Fenerbahçe fans’ demeanor after the Galatasaray game they played in their own stadium earlier this month, I can say that the hostility towards Galatasaray within Fenerbahçe is in full swing.
In the last few years, we’ve observed that this hostility in sports competitions has reached a new level. It’s safe to say that not only the rivalry between sports clubs but also the internal conflict within clubs themselves is damaging Turkish sports. Fenerbahçe’s Aziz Yıldırım-Ali Koç feud is a prime example of this. At Galatasaray, the factionalism among the club’s members is at its peak.
Despite everything, patience was necessary.
I can easily say that Burak Elmas’s 10-month tenure as president has been unsuccessful. His primary football mistakes include dismissing Fatih Terim before the end of the season, appointing a mediocre manager like Torrent to Galatasaray, and losing a proven player like Gedson Fernandes to rival Beşiktaş. Are these mistakes sufficient to warrant an administrative dismissal from the club? (See: https://www.sozcu.com.tr/spor/futbol/9-aylik-burak-elmas-donemi-22-saatte-bitti-galatasaray-tarihi-degisti-7037936/ )
Absolutely not.
After all, we’re talking about 10 months. Even Fenerbahçe, despite its significant shortcomings and failures (for example, it hasn’t won any trophies), granted a loan to someone like Ali Koç for nearly four years (he was elected president on 3 June 2018). Therefore, in my opinion, the Burak Elmas administration needs to be patient for at least one term as president, meaning three years.
Elmas’s Positive Steps
Burak Elmas has, at least financially, performed better than in previous years, avoided increasing his debt, and tried to make ends meet. His exposure of corruption involving agents may have disturbed some, but ultimately, he brought up corruption that no one wanted to touch for Galatasaray’s benefit yet was causing serious damage to Galatasaray (see: https://medyascope.tv/2022/03/31/galatasaray-spor-kulubu-yonetim-kurulu-uyesi-isitan-gun-sessizligini-bozdu-transfer-isleri-bir-cete-kontrolunde/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=%F0%9F%92%8A+T%C4%B1rtnet ). While I find the timing to be inappropriate, I take my hat off to Burak Elmas on this matter. I think he did what he had to do. However, one of his serious mistakes was his failure to choose his comrades wisely. He created rifts within his own board of directors, and there were those who backstabbed him. The fiascos and unnecessary outbursts within the board of directors made his athletic failures even more glaring.
No one knows what will happen next, or whether we’ll have another election. The Burak Elmas administration will decide. After all, the conflict and the game of thrones between factions continue. My heart longs to see the Burak Elmas administration through its three-year term and give it time to rectify its mistakes.
Will we expect to hit rock bottom instead of structural change?
Uncertainty persists. If Burak Elmas and the board of directors decide to hold an election, or if the Turkish courts allow it, an election could be held. I don’t plan on voting in an election where Eşref Hamamcıoğu and Metin Öztürk are running. If an election is held, one of these ambitious presidential candidates who have plunged Galatasaray into chaos could be elected. In that case, I believe Galatasaray’s future will be bleak, and the chaos will continue to grow. This cycle will continue. Each time, someone will be expected to fail. When financial and administrative failures become too much for the elected administration to handle, the stakes will be raised, and electoral chaos will ensue again. This deadlock will continue until Galatasaray’s debt becomes too high for anyone to handle. At such a stage, no one will want to take on the responsibility of the newly enacted law; in other words, let alone run for president, they won’t even want to join the board of directors.
In fact, the use of administrative non-disclosure as a threat by certain groups began during the Adnan Polat era. It continued with the Mustafa Cengiz era. In the final act, these groups, to achieve their own goals, pursued a strategy of overthrowing Burak Elmas’s leadership by a vote of 801 people, who were kept waiting after thousands of members left in the early hours of the morning.
To fundamentally resolve Galatasaray’s governance problems, the structure needs to be changed. The association structure is inadequate for managing Turkey’s largest sports club, with 30 million fans. Those who take over the association are engaging in self-promotion, driving the club into debt, and leaving without accountability. In my opinion, the association structure should be transformed into a joint-stock company (JSC). If necessary, restrictions could be placed on share purchases. At the very least, the JSC logic would pave the way for accountability. It would also prevent anyone forming their own group from aspiring to become a board member, regardless of their qualifications. This would ensure continuity and continuity in management.
Managing a sports club through an association is very difficult. Especially when patience is required, no one can demonstrate that patience, and those who form their own groups within the association can scheme and somehow overthrow the board. The club president must manage everyone, which means spending time managing a multitude of people driven by egos instead of dedicating time to the tasks necessary for the club’s success. The likelihood of a club succeeding through associations is slim; in my opinion, the number of successful presidents can be counted on one hand. For example, Galatasaray has worked under presidents like Faruk Süren. I believe he, too, failed to translate sporting success into financial success. Now you might ask, Galatasaray has won the championship 22 times. Is it unsuccessful?
Of course, it is successful. But success is relative. I think a club like Galatasaray has performed far below its potential due to poor management. You can measure this by our success in Europe. We had one successful period in Europe, and 22 years have passed since then. We’re still just managing in Europe, unable to even reach the quarterfinals. Besides football, we’re not as successful as we used to be in other sports. And of course, after all these years, we’ve accumulated an unmanageable debt burden. For sports clubs to achieve sustainable success, they must be debt-free, if possible, or at least with a manageable minimum.
In short, anyone who takes office through associational work must bring the club to a point where no one can say anything, so that individuals and groups with the potential to undermine them won’t have the courage to play games of thrones. An exception to this occurred at Galatasaray during the time of Duygun Yarsuvat. No one could speak out against Duygun, other than her age. The dissenting voices were very weak. After eight months in office, the president managed to put Galatasaray back on track and won three trophies. May God have mercy on his soul; he was a very valuable person. I am also proud to have been a Galatasaray member during his tenure. Here is Duygun’s administration:
The most recent example of a president who has succeeded in club management through associational work in Turkey is Ahmet Ağaoğlu of Trabzonspor. Ahmet Ağaoğlu founded the team that would bring the championship to Trabzonspor, a club with a very diverse community like Galatasaray, after 38 years. No group at Trabzonspor has anything left to say. All the dissenting voices have been silent for now. Well done. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate everyone involved, especially President Ahmet Ağaoğlu, the Trabzonspor Board of Directors, the players, and the coaching staff. Since my mother is from Trabzon, I’m especially happy that Trabzonspor won the championship. I’ll be writing my article about Trabzonspor next week.
Returning to Galatasaray, if the goal is to improve Galatasaray’s financial situation and ensure its continued success in sports, a radical change, such as returning to a joint-stock company structure, is necessary. However, I fear that certain groups within Galatasaray will continue to dare to take over until the club is completely wiped out. And when things get out of hand, I hope that genuine and dedicated Galatasaray members will step up and take responsibility.
Tag: memoir
