Beşiktaş appeals UEFA ban

Fikret Orman, chairman of financially troubled Beşiktaş, speaks at a meeting. AA photo

Beşiktaş filed an official appeal at the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) against a suspension by European football’s governing body, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), to play in European competitions next season, the Istanbul club announced yesterday.

Last month, Beşiktaş, along with Bursaspor and Gaziantepspor, was excluded from playing in European competitions for financial misdemeanors.

Club lawyer Emin Özkurt has said “the delays in payments to players” were the biggest reason for the ban.

Over the weekend, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor were cleared to play in European competitions, but the UEFA has yet to make an announcement on Beşiktaş and Bursaspor, as well as Fenerbahçe, who was embroiled in a match-fixing scandal.

Turkish Football Federation vice chairman Ufuk Özerten said he “believed” Super League runner-up Fenerbahçe would play in the Champions League qualifiers, but that the UEFA was taking more time to decide on its case because the club’s files “were numerous.”

Last season, Fenerbgahçe had been barred from playing in the Champions League following a TFF decision upon an incentive by the UEFA. (ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News)

Beşiktaş denies Denizli deal as club's TV channel withdraws news

Hürriyet photo

Beşiktaş football club denied reports saying that it had reached a deal with former Turkish national team coach Mustafa Denizli, moments after the club-owned BJK TV broke the news of an agreement.

BJK TV withdrew its breaking news while the club announced that an agreement was "not yet final," broadcaster NTV reported.

Denizli, a former Beşiktaş coach, has been working with Iran’s Persepolis team.

Beşiktaş has been without a coach since the club parted ways with Tayfur Havutçu last month.
(Istanbul-Hurriyet Daily News)

Three Turkish teams banned from Europe contest

Beşiktaş winger Ricardo Quaresma looks dejected during a Spor Toto Super League game. Beşiktaş is likely to part ways with some of its stars, such as Quaresma, in order to offload its heavy wage bill in the wake of the European suspension. AA photo

Turkish football has been rocked again following last season’s rigging scandal, with three teams receiving one-year European bans for financial misdemeanors

Three Turkish football clubs were banned from European competitions over financial irregularities yesterday.

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has suspended Beşiktaş, Bursaspor and Gaziantepspor from European competitions for one year.

Turkish media reported Eskişehirspor would replace Beşiktaş in the European competition, but European football’s governing body has yet to announce whether other Turkish teams would replace Bursaspor in this year’s Europa League competition or not. Beşiktaş, which was scheduled to play in this year’s Europa League qualifiers after finishing fourth in the Turkish league, was hit with a ban for failing to pay its players regularly, the club lawyer said.

“The biggest reason for the ban was stated as the delays in payments to players,” lawyer Emin Özkurt told CNN Türk.

Beşiktaş was banned for one year and fined 200,000 euros due to financial problems at the Istanbul club.

Beşiktaş chairman Fikret Orman and the club’s lawyers attended a meeting with UEFA’s disciplinary committee for a second time yesterday after the club was earlier warned about its financial status and high debt.

Beşiktaş was found guilty of unpaid debts in the first hearing held May 1, but its two-year ban was postponed under the condition it did not acquire unpaid debts in the next five years. The club was also given a fine of 500,000 euros.

Following the UEFA inspector’s appeal, a second hearing was held and Beşiktaş’s two-year ban was cut down to a one-year ban, but would be sanctioned with immediate effect.

The move came after UEFA scrutinized Beşiktaş’s accounts in the second and third quarters of 2011 and ruled that they breached articles of the ruling body’s financial fair play regulations.

Shares in Beşiktaş tumbled more than 9 percent with the news, falling to 4.29 Turkish Liras, Anatolia news agency reported.

Beşiktaş said the club would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) regarding the ban.

“We will defend the club’s rights until the end, and will appeal to CAS as the first step,” Levent Erdoğan, a lawyer and club board member, told Doğan news agency. Erdoğan said the ban was imposed because of decisions and actions that were made in the “previous administration.”

Orman was elected president of the Istanbul club earlier this year after Yıldırım Demirören left Beşiktaş to take over the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) chair.

Beşiktaş’s financial situation was ridden with debt during Demirören’s spell. The current TFF chairman spent more than 100 million liras for the club, and left the club indebted to himself when leaving the post.

“We have 17 cases at UEFA and we made all the payments for our players before that hearing, but that was still not enough” Orman said. “This is devastating. I am not sorry for myself, I am sorry this has happened to a historic club such as Beşiktaş. These kind of things will not happen again at my helm.”

Bursaspor cries foul

Bursaspor, the 2010 Turkish champion, and Gaziantepspor were also hit with one-year bans.

Bursaspor, who was also set to play in the Europa League qualifiers after finishing fifth in the league, was left out of the European competition for failure to pay the fee for Zambian forward Collins Mbesuma. Mbesuma, who was signed from Portsmouth in the 2007-2008 season, has played just six games for Bursaspor.

Bursaspor chairman İbrahim Yazıcı reacted harshly to the UEFA ban.

“We were not supposed to face a ban. This is a murder of law,” Yazıcı said to Anatolia news agency, adding that the club would also appeal at CAS. “I cannot understand how a club without debt like Bursaspor can be hit with a ban. We believe that UEFA will return from its mistake.”

Gaziantepspor, which was also banned for financial irregularities, did not win European qualification this year and its ban will be imposed in the first season that it qualifies for continental cups.
(ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News)

UEFA bans three Turkish clubs

Hürriyet photo

UEFA yesterday banned Beşiktaş from playing in all European cup competitions for one year, due to financial irregularities.

Beşiktaş was banned due to failure in payments to players. The Istanbul club has been facing several financial cases at European football's governing body.

"I am deeply sad," the club's newly-elected chairman Fikret Orman said, promising that this punishment would help the club improve in the future. "There won't be troubles like this in the future."

Bursaspor and Gaziantepspor were also banned from all European cup competitions for one year by UEFA. (ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News)

Beşiktaş one victory away from final

Beşiktaş Milangaz forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu (44) tries to score a basket against Galatasaray Medical Park center Luksa Andric (L) during the two teams’ playoff match. AA photo

Beşiktaş Milangaz looks to capitalize on its home-court advantage and close out Beko Turkish Basketball League semifinal playoff series against archival Galatasaray Medical Park

Beşiktaş Milangaz stands just one win away from advancing to the Beko Turkish Basketball League (TBL) finals when it takes on Galatasaray Medical Park tonight.

The Black Eagles host their Istanbul rivals at the Sinan Erdem Dome at 8 p.m. They have a 2-1 series lead in the two teams’ best-of-five semifinal series.

Beşiktaş Milangaz bounced back after losing the first game of the series and stole the home-court advantage from Galatasaray with an away win last week. It now has the chance to close out the series in front of its fans, but coach Ergin Ataman refuses to declare the series over.

“Right now we are only 2-1 ahead,” Ataman said during the post-game conference after a 74-65 win over Galatasaray Medical Park on May 20. “Of course, playing another game here on our home court is an advantage, but nothing is finished yet. We have another win to get before the finals.”

On May 20, David Hawkins led all scorers with 21 points for Beşiktaş, who used a strong start to lead the game until the end. Boris Savovic and Nihad Dedovic both had 16 points for Galatasaray, who struggled to find rhythm at the offensive end of the court.

“What we had to do was try and take them out of their offensive routine,” Ataman said. “We had the control over the game from the start to the finish. We won the game with our defensive success.”

Beşiktaş Milangaz played its regular season games at its own 3,200-seat Milangaz Arena throughout the season, but it has switched to the 16,000-seat Sinan Erdem Dome for the series. The decision paid off with boisterous support from a sold-out crowd of Beşiktaş fans at the Turkish national team’s home court in Istanbul.

“We did not confine that series to Akatlar [Milangaz Arena]; we could have had bigger pressure there as well,” Ataman said. “The tickets for that game were sold out three days before the match. Tuesday’s matches are coming close to selling out. The atmosphere they created played a huge part [in our win]. There was huge pressure on Galatasaray Medical Park. They could not play the same way as they did at the Abdi İpekçi Arena. That was a historic atmosphere for Turkish basketball.”

Galatasaray coach Oktay Mahmuti is aware that his team cannot afford another defeat.

“Now Beşiktaş has the advantage in the series,” he said. “We will try as hard as we can to win the game. It will be a make-or-break kind of game.” (hurriyetdailynews)

Turkey's Besiktas Milangaz claims FIBA Eurochallenge title

Turkey's Besiktas Milangaz basketball team toppled their French opponents Elan Chalon 91-86 to win the top title

Turkey's Besiktas Milangaz basketball team toppled their French opponents Elan Chalon 91-86 to win the top title in the FIBA Eurochallenge Cup in the final game in Debrecen, Hungary. 
It was the first ever cup Besiktas claimed in a European tournament and second for Turkey in men's basketball after a 1996 title in FIBA's Korac Cup for Turkish side Anadolu Efes, named Efes Pilsen at the time.
"This is fantastic result for us. I am happy to bring the cup to Turkey and I am proud of my players," Besiktas Milangaz coach Engin Ataman told reporters after the match. (AA)

Beşiktaş to turn Çarşı into a brand

Beşiktaş aims to to turn ‘Çarşı,’ the name of its passionate fan group, into a profitable brand. Çarşı is known for its politically-engaged and humorous chants and banners.

The Beşiktaş sports club is seeking to purchase the sleeping “Çarşı” brand, which currently belongs to retailer Boyner.

Coincidentally, the brand name is also the name of Beşiktaş’s passionate supporter group, which is known for its politically critical character.

Çarşı, which translates as “the market place,” takes its name from the central Beşiktaş Çarşı in the Istanbul district. The group’s politically-engaged and humorous chants and banners are an important part of Turkish football folklore.

Beşiktaş is willing to use Çarşı as a brand name, Metin Albayrak, head of the club’s Kartal Yuvası chain of stores, confirmed, but no bargain has started with Boyner Group, the official holder of the brand name.

“This is a long range plan,” Albayrak told the Hürriyet Daily News on the phone yesterday, adding that a restructuring process was already ongoing to develop current Kartal Yuvası stores.

The management plans to increase the revenues in these stores by 25 percent in its first year, Albayrak added.

The name Çarşı does not represents a limited group but “the whole Beşiktaş fans,” he said.

Contrary to media stories yesterday, no talks took place with Boyner chair Ümit Boyner, he also said.
The Boyner group also did not confirm yesterday reports about ongoing talks with the club.

Attempt more serious than ever, Çarşı leader says

Alen Markaryan, the leader of the group, confirmed that the idea had been on the table for the last five or six years, but the attempt looked more serious this time.

“This is what we have suggested in a bid to provide benefits for the club,” Markaryan said.

“The club has already been suffering from piracy,” Markaryan told the Daily News in a telephone interview yesterday.

“We are being accused [of benefiting from such things] despite the fact that we have nothing to do with money. We expect such a development would also be good for us.”

Çarşı stores were relaunched last year in May, after a seven years of absence, in a bid to give way to Boyner department stores, the public relations company representing Boyner said yesterday.

Ali Kayalar from Istanbul contributed to this report.

Beşiktaş to take part in key UEFA hearing on unpaid debts

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ISTANBUL

Beşiktaş chairman Fikret Orman confirmed that the Istanbul club is part of a probe by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) on unpaid debts.

The club will be present at a May 1 hearing by the Disciplinary Committee of European football’s governing body due to the club’s “failure to pay its debts,” Orman said at a press conference held yesterday.

“UEFA is concerned that Beşiktaş has not been paying its debts. I will go to represent and defend the club,” he said.

Beşiktaş was previously asked by the UEFA for assurances that the club would pay its debts before playing in the Europa League competition. A failure to clear the debt could be seen as “tricking the UEFA,” said Orman.

If found guilty, Beşiktaş may face a European ban, and may be forced to pay back the eight million euros it received from UEFA for its Europa League participation this season.

(hurriyetdailynews)