The capital-based club are in dire need of money before the new season begins.
Ankaragucu need to come up with roughly 30 million Turkish Lira (TL) in order to overcome the latest troubles the club is facing, according to the club’s president Mehmet Yiginer.
Speaking to Turkish news outlet Anadolu Agency, Yiginer explained the difficulties the club is facing this summer, including a transfer ban imposed by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) and political conflicts surrounding the governing of the club.
“Those who have spent everything, who don’t have one lira left, people who are living in an economic hardship…those have a zero percent chance of coming here. Nobody can sit in this seat [chariman’s seat] without paying. I am saying that specifically. There are some political problems. We started again, egos, chairman wars, this, that. God willing, we will overcome these,” Yiginer said.
“We need to lift the transfer ban. Our work to solve this issue is ongoing. We are working with our creditor friends, one by one.”
The club’s president underlined the urgent need of revenue, roughly to the tune of 30 million TL before the start of the new season.
“According to our calculations, to remove the transfer ban and bring a coach and players before the new season, we need around 30 million lira. I think if we, together with our sponsors Machine Chemical Industry (MKE) and Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, get together, we can comfortably solve the problems. We ask for patience. When we bring in a coach, and the transfer ban is not lifted, new issues could arise. We need to be patient. There is no other way,” the president said as he asked for the club’s supporters to remain patient during the difficult period the club is facing.
He also revealed that the club’s sponsor, MKE, is not backing them financially which is one of the reasons they have difficulties raising capital to fund new coaches and transfers.
“You know, we were receiving very little support from MKE. Our sponsor. You can call them the club’s owners, even. When you look at other clubs, some receive sponsorship money from government agencies. MKE, on the other hand, did not pay us one lira. We talked with the general manager, the deputy minister and the minister. They told us to wait. They say they are waiting for approval from the President but it has been over a year. The season is over. We will begin the new season the same way. If we can find a serious name sponsor, we will put MKE aside. We need to replace them because they are not there for us during difficult times. We carry MKE on our uniforms but they did not sign the sponsorship. There is no deal,” Yiginer revealed as he vented his frustration at the club’s relationship with the manufacturing company.