Fenerbahce collapse due to sabotage

The turmoil at Fenerbahce continues with the latest involving the club’s president Ali Koc. The club’s new administration is being “sabotaged” according to Koc.

Fenerbahce president Ali Koc finally broke his silence about the turmoil that Fenerbahce finds itself in. He made a sensational statement on Fenerbahce’s official TV channel, FBTV, last week. In his statement, he accused assistant coaches, some players and some executives of betraying his administration and effectively harming the club’s interests.

Although his accusations varied greatly in quality and quantity, the only apparent common ground of all “insurgencies” in the club was their disapproval of the new era in Fenerbahce. He claimed that these people actively sabotaged the football team and tried to force his administration to make decisions according to their plans.

Fener’s newly elected president said that the team’s assistant coaches, analyst Turgay Altay, goalkeeper trainer Murat Ozturk and fitness coach Alper Asci, misinformed first team coach Cocu about individual performances during the entire training period. But most importantly, Koc accused them of leaking Fenerbahce’s performance reports to their opponents, an act that wanders on the borders of criminality. Thus, Cocu was set up for failure by his so-called assistants, according to the claims.

There was one event, however, that had many eyewitnesses and could not be proven wrong even by the defendants. Before the Besiktas derby, one of the assistant coaches, Turgay Altay, brought a carpet into the dressing room, and when Cocu asked what it meant, the answer was clear: After losing this game, we are going to hold the funeral for the coach with this carpet.

Now, it is clear that these people had ill intentions and harmed their club’s and employer’s interests for their own interests. But what was their true motive? They were the technical staff of the former manager of Fenerbahce, Aykut Kocaman, who is a close friend of Aziz Yildirim, the former president of the club.

Koc speaking on FBTV about the club’s difficulties.

Although his contract was terminated, his crews’ were not initially. But they knew that they were chosen for a short period of time to help Cocu during the transition. In the long run, they were not considered a serious issue. Thus, they had a long-term interest in getting rid of Cocu and bringing in a Turkish coach.

Also, the team’s iconic goalkeeper, Volkan Demirel, who had close relations with Aziz Yildirim, is one of the players who was left out of the squad because of their disrespectful behaviour. Koc explained to FBTV about multiple incidents where
Demirel publicly disrespected him and other board members during dinners, meetings and at various other gatherings.

He was part of the plot that ended another coach, Ersun Yanal’s Fenerbahce career. His impact on the club and the Fenerbahce community is well beyond of a player and he has always been an influential figure in the team’s atmosphere. Since he was benched before eventually being completely left out of the squad, it was clear that he also had problems with the new technical staff.

Reports in Turkish media have alleged certain players, like Demirel, and the previous assistants and coaches, who were eventually fired, have been plotting on Koc’s downfall by performing poorly in order to have Cocu removed and eventually cause an uproar from the fans to initiate a plot to bring back Aziz Yildirim.

While this may sound like a plot from a blockbuster movie, it is a part of Turkish football. The exclusion of Demirel and other players, the sacking of Altay, Ozturk and Asci paint a clear picture of the severity of the situation at Fenerbahce.