While I was thinking of a title for this article, the term “short circuit” , aclassic term in my field of renewable energy and electricity—came to mind. Ali Koç, who constantly stirs up trouble in Turkish sports, and fanatics like him, are short-circuiting in different ways every week.
For my readers who don’t have an electrical or electronics background, let’s define a short circuit. A short circuit is a fault in an electrical or electronic circuit that causes the resistance to become extremely low. This causes the circuit to draw excessive current, and if there’s no protection circuit, it can lead to power failure, overheating, and a fire hazard (see: https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C4%B1sa_devre ). If we assume that brain functions work like an electrical circuit, I think “short circuit” best describes this mental state.
Complicate the problem instead of solving it
I ignore the issue every week, thinking I’ll stop writing about it, but how long can it last? The impact of the incidents I’ve been saying “this can’t happen anymore” in the Turkish Football League continues to grow. Football stakeholders operate with the mindset that all means are justified to avoid the appearance of failure. Beyond Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe, a similar rivalry exists among teams battling to avoid relegation. However, Fenerbahçe’s President Ali Koç, his management, and the fanatical fans who constantly inflame or fuel the conflict, exacerbating problems rather than resolving them with new rhetoric every week, stand out in this equation. The circuits of Ali Koç and the Koç brothers constantly draw excessive current, and when no one is around to protect them, or when they don’t listen to those around them, they malfunction, creating extreme tension and escalating the temperature, even turning Turkish football into a conflagration. Let me give you a specific example to help you visualize the Ali Koç brothers. For example, journalist Uğur Dündar: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5ZZSMpsqzB/?igsh=MWxzc2NnZW1nbnc3NA==
Mistakes Made
Last night, unfortunately, we experienced an evening that will go down in history as a dark stain on Turkish football. With the authority granted to Ali Koç and his management by the general assembly, they made mistake after mistake. I’ll list the mistakes made specifically for last night:
1) They didn’t play in the Super Cup match: Fenerbahçe’s senior team didn’t appear in the Super Cup final between the Turkish League champion and the Turkish Cup winner. It’s like little kids whining and skipping out. Are these immature actions befitting the management of a club like Fenerbahçe, a club that has been competitive for over a century?
2) They sacrificed the young players: So why did you sacrifice the U19 kids? What was their sin? It’s incomprehensible to field the kids against Galatasaray’s senior team in Şanlıurfa, let them play for one minute, then order them to withdraw, then make a statement after the match, and then expect them to carry this weight at their age. What happened in Şanlıurfa will remain traumatic for many of these children. Furthermore, instead of teaching these young people to be “intelligent, agile, and moral,” as Atatürk said, you’re doing the exact opposite. You’re setting the wrong example by showing children these “Ali Cengiz” games.
You’re brainwashing them to the point of making U19 goalkeeper Furkan say, “We had to choose between the Europa League and the Super Cup,” before a match. And to guide these children correctly, one of them fails to say the following: In football, it’s possible to play a match every three days, and if you’re in good form, it’ll work in your favor. Because the best training is playing matches. During the years when Galatasaray won the Turkish League for four consecutive years, numerous other Turkish cups, the UEFA Cup, and the European Super Cup, they played a match every three or four days. They never complained about this; they fought like lions in every match, won numerous trophies, and achieved the most successful period in Galatasaray’s history.
3) Disinformation-filled press conference: You stated in a lengthy pre-match press conference that past events led to this decision. Don’t make excuses. If everyone projected their own trauma onto their work, people wouldn’t be able to perform properly. The important thing is to focus on the future and perform their duties professionally. Why bother talking constantly and creating tension instead of going into the match and competing with an open mind?
In short, not fielding the senior team for the Super Cup Final, Turkish football’s biggest trophy, on the 100th Anniversary of the Republic, playing the U19 youth academy for just one minute before withdrawing them, and making statements that would cause animosity among 65 million fans before the match were all major mistakes.
I will also list the mistakes that Ali Koç and others like him repeated in the pre-match press conference, which have become recurring, and offer my comments on these mistakes:
1) Constantly criticizing the referees: Stop criticizing the referees. You’re the team in the Turkish league that makes the most mistakes and awards the most penalties (many of which have nothing to do with penalties and are usually awarded in draws or last-minute situations). You’re the team whose discretion is most heavily exercised in your favor, yet you’re the most critical of the referees. This is called “bu ne perhiz ne sauerkrautsu” in our beautiful Turkish. If you want to serve Turkish football, hire the world’s three best foreign referees (these referees can be former referees or still actively involved) and have them commentate every match, including your own, every week. This transparency will bring everyone together. Perhaps you’ll feel embarrassed after these comments and stop misleading the public.
2) Constantly using past events as excuses: Stop making excuses and complaining. Focus on competing professionally. You can play poorly some days and win and play well some days and lose. After all, football is a game designed to bring people joy, and you shouldn’t make this beautiful game a prison for them.
3) Provoking his own fans: Stop provoking your own fans, especially your fanatics. The fans who recently attacked a 14-year-old girl simply because she’s a Galatasaray fan are acting on your rhetoric. Remember this. Much worse situations could arise in the future, and people could lose their lives because of your rhetoric. The blame for this will be on you. Here’s the news of the assault of a 14-year-old Galatasaray fan by Galatasaray fans: https://www.instagram.com/p/C5ad4MwrWwc/?igsh=MWMwcXJzOGVyaDR0Ng==
4) Constantly insulting Galatasaray: Stop insulting Galatasaray. Haven’t you realized that these insults are coming back to you? Engaging in such an ugly rivalry with Turkey’s most successful and fan-populated sports club will always cost you. Especially calling this club “the very survival of Turkish sports” is a serious delusion. After this statement, those outside of the FB fans began to view you as a survival issue. Furthermore, constantly trying to associate the Galatasaray Sports Club with an organization that attempted a coup in Turkey demonstrates the predicament you find yourself in. These troll-like pronouncements eventually led to the target being pointed back at you, leading to associations of Koç Holding and its executives with FETÖ (pineapple, Turkish Olympics, etc.). As former GS president Mustafa Cengiz famously said, we should also look at who became champions and who didn’t after FETÖ’s end: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5G6mE7LjU0/?igsh=aWk1NmJ2NjNic2o0
Instead of constantly inflaming the atmosphere with your false statements, forging friendships and working together to shape Turkish sports would have elevated you and positioned you as a thought leader.
5) Protecting and protecting players who act wrongly: Just as Aziz Yıldırım supported players like Emre Belözoğlu and Volkan Demirel who consistently acted badly, you, too, are setting a bad example for the entire team by supporting players with low morals and low IQs like Mert Hakan and goalkeeper İrfan Can. Players who constantly create tension and provoke fights should be warned and made to behave properly. Otherwise, the entire team will be disrupted, and this lack of character within the team will continue to fuel antipathy towards the Football Federation.
6) Constantly interfering with the Federation: The Turkish Football Federation has many faults, admittedly. However, the Federation often makes poor decisions that protect and protect you. I can give many examples of this. Accept the Federation’s decisions, whether favorable or unfavorable, and refrain from interfering. Only organize meetings that avoid public outcry to ensure they make the right decisions. Constantly discuss any mistakes made (for or against them) with the Turkish Football Federation. Avoid making a spectacle of them.
7) His words don’t match what he says: Ali Koç, in particular, can say something is “white” one day and “black” the next, saying the exact opposite. Such inconsistencies are unbecoming of someone in his position and diminish his authority. If he wants to reclaim his reputation, he must always stand by his words. An example of Ali Koç’s inconsistencies: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5WW0V5Mu42/?igsh=bWsxMnV5OGFkdW5m
Don’t change your rhetoric to suit current events. Meanwhile, Fenerbahçe fans are also waking up to this: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5RxjU4AIkP/?igsh=MXM1dHg4NnU5bGF6cw%3D%3D
8) His view of sports as a battlefield: Sports are sports, not war. If a country is managed correctly, sports contribute greatly to its development. It doesn’t suit you, like someone used to getting everything the easy way, to stir up trouble when you can’t get what you want. This situation is seriously damaging first to yourself, then to your family, then to Fenerbahçe, and ultimately to Turkish football. Accept this and instead of constantly provoking war, make mature and calming statements like Galatasaray President Dursun Özbek. The country is already tense; there’s no need to further escalate it and damage people’s mental health. As you can see from Ali Koç’s link: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5R4DtsoYg2/?igsh=MTZwbTA4bzFvcHY2Zg%3D%3D , it’s unacceptable that he incites chaos instead of addressing his own failures.
9) Personally threatening referees, Galatasaray executives, and relevant stakeholders: Stop constantly threatening referees and Galatasaray executives. These threats don’t just target referees and Galatasaray; Ali Koç threatens all relevant stakeholders. Here’s an example: His threat to Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor İmamoğlu: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5MPTWfLXcY/?igsh=ZnBsbmY4OG1lamRs
If events arise that no one wants, the blame will be on you. If these irresponsible actions result in loss of life or property, it could lead to imprisonment.
The Best Counter-Statement Ever Made
This year, so many statements and counter-statements have been made due to the constant firestorms caused by Ali Koç and his administration that listing them all here would take over two hours to read this article. So, I’ll just highlight my favorite of these statements. Ali Koç, who once again made vitriolic remarks about the referees and Galatasaray, calling them “a survival issue,” gave the best response to this short statement (let’s look at the wording used in the club’s statement):
“PROJECTION IN PSYCHOLOGY: It’s a defense mechanism in which a person pretends to possess their negative emotions and unacceptable characteristics in the other person.
Those who, under constant surveillance by the TFF and the referees, steal points from their opponents with last-second unfair penalties and red cards awarded in their favor, and try to intimidate everyone with anxiety and fear; those who constantly play the victim despite winning with unfair refereeing decisions just three days ago should have been ashamed and remained silent. On their behalf, we watched with shame and regret the statements filled with lies and slander, made to steal points once again in the Trabzonspor match, with the mindset that any means are permissible to win. It is our primary duty to expose all the lies of this person who lies without blinking an eye to the public.”
I would like to emphasize that, in this climate of conflict, a fundamental issue concerning clubs is being overlooked. UEFA has issued a warning to the Big Four regarding their ban from Europe: https://www.milliyet.com.tr/skorer/son-dakika-uefadan-dort-buyuklere-avrupadan-men-uyarisi-7081234
Teams that must strengthen their balance sheets
According to this news, UEFA’s warning emphasized that teams must strengthen their balance sheets to obtain club licenses in the future. Last year, the club with the largest net equity loss in Europe was Italian Serie A side Roma, with €436 million. In addition to four Turkish teams, the top 10 included three teams from Italy, and one each from Portugal, Israel, and Spain.
The top 10 European clubs with a net equity loss in 2023 are as follows:
1 | Roma: €436 million
2 | Porto: €176 million
3 | Inter: €162 million
4 | Beşiktaş: €151 million
5 | Trabzonspor: €110 million
6 | Galatasaray: €109 million
7 | Fenerbahçe: €82 million
8 | Real Betis: €72 million
9 | M. Haifa: €63 million
10 | Lazio: €38 million
Following this news, I’d like to share another piece about the heavy toll on Galatasaray’s stars: https://www.sozcu.com.tr/galatasaray-a-yildizlarin-faturasi-agir-oldu-p25132 . Accordingly, the quartet of Zaha, Ziyech, Ndombele, and Tete, whose total seasonal cost was €16.7 million, were either struggling with injuries or confined to the bench. Galatasaray failed to meet its targets with four players. Ivory Coast player Serge Aurier, who was transferred during the mid-season transfer window, joined them.
A similar situation exists at Fenerbahçe. The financial situation of the Big Four appears dire as a result of millions of euros spent on transfers.
Ali Koç and his team continue to focus on Galatasaray to win the championship instead of focusing on the core problems. Similarly, Galatasaray is unable to focus on its long-term goals due to all the attacks. Turkish football continues to suffer.
The Federation’s Responsibilities
There’s only one way to resolve this spiral of problems. The federation has a significant responsibility:
1) Anyone making statements that incite people to take to the streets will first be given a warning and a suspension of at least five matches. If these statements persist, the suspension will be increased to a lifetime ban, effectively banning these executives from sports altogether. Executives who incite public hatred, anger, and incitement will be completely banned from managing sports clubs. Depending on the incidents, they may even be slapped with prison sentences.
2) Strict rules will be implemented to ensure financial discipline. All clubs will be forced to make ends meet. In short, rules will be established to ensure that all clubs’ income and expenses are balanced annually. Clubs whose expenses exceed their income for two years will be given a warning and points will be deducted in return. If this period reaches five years, the club will be permanently closed and dissolved by the federation’s decision.
3) Those who defraud people through betting will be identified, and a mechanism will be established to ensure that these individuals receive long-term prison sentences. Similarly, clubs and their managers who engage in match-fixing will be subject to harsh sanctions.
4) Referee appointments and management will be closely monitored. Referees who make deliberate errors will initially be given a minimum of five-match suspension as a warning. If these deliberate errors persist, their refereeing duties will be revoked.
I don’t believe all of these suggestions will be implemented in the short term, but in the long run, I believe that once people understand certain things, taking some drastic measures will at least leave a much cleaner and more promising sports environment for future generations.
Speaking today, we want managements that are not only based on merit but also on common sense, conscientiousness, and committed to ensuring welfare in every major administrative mechanism in the country. This includes sports club management.
Tag: education
