Thrills and spills as Turkish soccer heads into winter

ISTANBUL

By Furkan Naci Top

Nothing better sums up a tumultuous month for Turkish football than a recent chaotic goal by former champions Bursaspor.

The ball spun, ricocheted off the ground and flew through a ragged Balikesirspor defense and past a failed, flailing bicycle kick to eventually meet Argentine striker Fernando Belluschi who managed to put it away for Bursa’s fifth and final goal of the match.

This season has already seen: a change of chairman for Champions League side Galatasaray plus furious fan protests against the Lions’ coach; bitter disappointment for the national team in its Euro 2016 qualifying bid; and a decreasing number of supporters in stadiums due to a new fan ID card designed to curb violence and tighten security.

Champions League hopefuls Galatasaray were defeated by four goals last weekend against league newcomers Basaksehir F.C., while their city rivals Besiktas lost against another underdog, Kayseri Erciyesspor, in a game which saw three goals in the last 10 minutes.

Southern team Mersin Idman Yurdu, which clawed its way back into the top league this season, carried out an incredible comeback against Eskisehirspor. From being two goals down after 28 minutes, Mersin scored four times despite being reduced to 10 men.

One of only five teams to win the Turkish league, Trabzonspor, and their visitors Gaziantepspor had to settle for a point apice in a goalfest which saw each team score four times.

The Black Sea side caught Gaziantep with a last-minute goal from their superstar Oscar Cardozo after chasing the match the whole way through.

This eight-goal draw was the first such result in almost eight years.

Besiktas, one of the three iconic Istanbul teams, has been struggling to find a temporary ground as its almost 70-year-old home by the shores of the Bosphorus is being reconstructed.

In the previous week, Besiktas had to play their ‘home’ game almost 400km away in the Turkish capital Ankara, raising anger among fans.

Despite the ‘Black Eagles’ being away from their nest, the side scraped a close win against Roberto Carlos's Sivasspor. A solution to their problem remains distant, as the reconstruction of the Inonu Stadium drags on.

According to Turkish football pundit, Ugur Meleke, this problem should have been solved long before the building work kicked off.

"Besiktas should have decided where to play at the same time as the demolition began, even if it would be in Van," Meleke told AA.

Van is a Turkish city only 100 kilometers from the Iranian border.

Galatasaray, on the other hand, is going through a shaky time, despite a win over city archrivals Fenerbahce at home on Oct. 18.

A few days later a four-goal Champions League loss to Borussia Dortmund damaged trust in coach Cesare Prandelli, the former Italian national squad boss.

Another 4-0 loss in a supposedly ‘easy’ Istanbul derby with Basaksehir sparked outrage, with fans rushing to Lions’ training complex after the game to demand Prandelli's head.

Galatasaray throughout this period were headless following chairman Unal Aysal's stunning resignation in mid-September due to reasons which Aysal is keeping to himself, claims Meleke.

The club elected Duygun Yarsuvat, a law professor, as the new chairman with the support of key figures who had been left out in the cold by Aysal.

Right before the derby, the head of Turkey's Capital Markets Board, speaking to the Haberturk newspaper, warned the club over failing to announcing financial losses over five consecutive years, losses which could result in penalties for the club’s executive board.

Galatasaray's losses have risen to more than $53 million (117 million Turkish lira in 2014), something which is alarming the new management.

The club was also hit with a 200,000 euro ($250,000) fine in May this year for breaching UEFA financial ‘fair play’ rules.

Meleke, who is also a columnist for the Milliyet newspaper, told Anadolu Agency that any club which extends contracts for two 29-year-old players for four years and brings their annual salaries to nearly $3.5 million is doomed to financial failure.

The Turkish national squad is not doing so well either. Three UEFA 2016 qualifying matches have seen a defeat away to Iceland – a country 300,000 population – and losing at home to the Czech Republic in Istanbul, a city which once reveled in its hostile atmosphere and its cheery greeting to away fans: ‘Welcome to Hell.’

As a further sting, a game against Latvia ended with a draw, nearly ending Turkey's hopes for Euro 2016 qualification.

Veteran coach Fatih Terim was the target of critics' wrath, with questions asked over his salary. However, Meleke says running the Turkish national football team is worth it and whoever is hired at that level comes with a price.

However, Meleke also blames the ‘Emperor’ (as Terim has been dubbed by the media) for "expecting a different result by repeating the same strategy."

Meanwhile, in Turkish stadiums the football authorities have launched a new fan ID card system as part of plans to shore up security and reduce crowd violence.

However, a backlash is being witnessed as the number of occupied seats on the stands decreases.

Even the recent Galatasaray-Fenerbahce clash, described as a ‘world derby’, was played in front of some empty seats.

According to Meleke, the ‘Pasolig’ system is partially the cause of falling numbers in stadiums. Although this was inevitable to stop violence in sports, it “could have been planned better,” he says.

For Fenerbahce all seems relatively calm: a new project to register one million members has been launched by the Istanbul club to boost income and establish a stronger fan network.

Meleke says these footballing social institutions, unlike clubs in the English Premier League, are also massive NGOs: "It is an opportunity to organize for the greater good."

With all these ups and downs, the Turkish Super League is entering another stormy week as fans hold their breath for another Istanbul derby, between the homesick black eagles of Besiktas and Fenerbahce on Sunday.

www.aa.com.tr/en