13 teams withdrew, the limit was updated in the Super League, clubs for Erdogan (so as not to go bankrupt): Turkish football after the tragedy

Explains Elvin Kerimov.

The Turkish Super League is back after a 20 day break. The weekend will see games postponed due to the earthquake and terrorist attack. And since March, the championship will continue in the usual format – “Hatayspor” and “Gaziantep” in the remaining games will receive techies.

Turkish football professor and Match TV commentator Elvin Kerimov tells how the clubs of the local Super League come back to life after the largest earthquake in the history of the country.

Trabzon sold tickets to journalists and raised more than 300 thousand dollars for the local Ministry of Emergency Situations

There was unconfirmed news that the club asked to reschedule the match against Basel in the Conference League, but UEFA refused due to lack of free dates on the calendar. But “Trabzon” at the same time solved an important problem.

To raise money for the victims, a few days before the game he canceled season tickets and began selling tickets – even to journalists in the press box. The price tag was normal. The proceeds were more than 6 million lira (318 thousand dollars at the rate of February 2023 – Sports.ru). All funds were transferred to AFAD, the Turkish analogue of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

The bosses of the [Turkish] Super League clubs flew to the game: the presidents of Trabzon, Fener, Galatasaray, Besiktas, Adana and other teams. This is a really rare case – perhaps the first and last time that the leaders of the top clubs sat in the same box.

Fans of Galatasaray, Fener and Besiktas also arrived. They sat in the jerseys of their clubs. Fener and Trabzon hate each other because of the unshared championship in the 2010/2011 season. Warming in relations, but I do not think that for a long time. It is hard to imagine that Fener and Trabzon will become friends.

Trabzon played in mourning black uniform. The slogan of the match was “one color – one heart”. The fans were silent for the first minute in memory of the dead, and then charged chants without club affiliation, as at a national team match – this was called for by the coach of Trabzon Abdullah Avji before the game.

The pause slowed down the pace of Galatasaray, everyone was infuriated by the president of Besiktas

On the first day of the earthquake, all sports were postponed indefinitely, but there was no talk of an early termination of the championship.

This weekend there will be matches scheduled for February 6: Giresunspor – Kayserispor, Fenerbahce – Konyaspor, Umraniyespor – Adana, as well as Besiktas – Antalyaspor postponed due to the terrorist attack on November 13 “. From March 3, the championship will resume in standard mode.

The forced pause can play into the hands of Fenerbahce, because before it Galatasaray gained super form. Although Fener looked at the table for a month, in which 9 points are up to the main competitor. True, they played a match more.

But it is quite possible that Galatasaray will continue at the same pace: Fernando Muslera, who suffered a knee injury the day before the earthquake, may already return to training by the restart of the season.

“Besiktas” decided the transfer case for a pause. They signed attacking midfielder Alexandra Maksim (4+6 in 21 league matches) and defender Onur Bulut (3+3 in 21 games).

In the remaining matches, Hatayspor and Gaziantep will receive technical defeats. The president of Besiktas was wildly dissatisfied and said that they should be given techies for the entire championship, because his club lost 4 points with them. He was attacked because he said it a few days after the earthquake.

13 (!) Clubs withdrew, 9 legionnaires will play in Superleague matches

The Super League clubs Hatayspor and Gaziantep decided not to finish the season. Plus Malatyaspor, Adanaspor (First League), Adiyaman, Sanliurfaspor, Amedspor, Diyarbekirspor, Adiyamanaspor (Second League), Nowhere Anadolu, Malatya Arguvanspor, Osmaniespor , “Kahramanmarashspor” (Third League).

The decision, of course, is more for ethical reasons, but the infrastructure of the clubs has also suffered. Who has a base, who has a hotel where the team lived. The Football Federation offered these clubs to move to Istanbul and settle on the basis of the federation, but they refused.

All those who withdrew will not fly out at the end of the championships. I think they will come back next season. Can there be dissatisfied with the return? Of course, but it will be an absolute minority. Football propaganda works perfectly in Turkey. The standard of living is constantly falling: the weakening of the Turkish lira, inflation, unemployment. At the same time, all these years they continue to build stadiums and pay millions to legionnaires, but this does not raise questions for anyone.

Super League clubs helped Hatayspor and Geziantep on their own initiative: they take players on loan until the end of the season and will pay them a salary. Plus, together with the whole country, they raised 115 billion lira for AFAD ($6 billion at the rate of February 2023 – Sports.ru).

The Football Federation is moving forward. Foreigners who are ready to continue their career in Turkey will not be considered foreign players until the end of the season. For example, Romanian Alexandru Maxim can now enter the field as the 9th legionnaire (in the Super League, the limit is 3+8). His ex-Gaziantep partner Lazar Markovic has moved to Trabzonspor but will not be able to play in the Conference League.

The transfer window was supposed to close on February 9, but it was first extended to February 18, and then extended to March 5. Of course, with the permission of FIFA and UEFA.