Aziz Yıldırım Promises to Withdraw Fenerbahçe Candidacy if Team Secures Championship

Speaking at the election liaison office opened across from Ülker Stadium, Yıldırım stated that the claim that Beşiktaş had agreed with the Portuguese coach was not true.

Accusing Beşiktaş of acting as a pawn for others, Yıldırım said, “We had a face-to-face meeting with Mourinho and talked for 2 hours. Beşiktaş claims they agreed for 7 million; I’ll add 5 more, let them make it 12 and bring him here. They are lying. They are trying to act as pawns for some people. This doesn’t suit Beşiktaş. I, as Aziz Yıldırım, have served as president with Süleyman Seba, they should consider and uphold this value well,” he said.

Emphasizing that they talked to Mourinho and had no such conversation with Beşiktaş, Yıldırım continued, “Let me also tell Hasan Arat to stop making such statements. If he comes for 7 million, we’ll withdraw. Beşiktaş doesn’t have such power; it’s a shame. We should be respectful to each other. We can tell Mourinho that they are agreeing with him, and we’ll withdraw. When he came to Istanbul for a commercial shoot, two people from Beşiktaş approached me, and we talked about sports. There was no such conversation,” he evaluated.

“These 6 Years Are Lost”

Aziz Yıldırım stated that no positive developments have occurred at the club since 2018.

Explaining that they will continue with the plans they left unfinished, Yıldırım said, “Since 2018, nothing has been done, not even a single nail has been driven. Not even painting has been done. Everyone is complaining. We will implement our plans from 2018. We didn’t lose to Galatasaray for 20 years, and we had clear results like 4-0 and 6-0. We had superiority over Galatasaray, but we have somewhat lost this recently. We lost our 20-year streak at home. We went and won this match, and the kids were happy. They went to their schools with their jerseys, carrying them with pride. We always beat Galatasaray; our team is strong,” he said.

Stating that he will hold a meeting in the new week and explain his promises in detail, Yıldırım continued:

“In the meeting I will hold after Monday, I will explain in detail why we lost the championship. External forces, side factors, we will leave these behind. Hopefully, we will win the championship. Let’s win, and I will withdraw my candidacy; my candidacy is not important. Let Fenerbahçe be happy. A draw in the Konyaspor-Galatasaray match benefits both. Hopefully, Konya will play a good match and win, but we’ll see what happens.”

Responding to a question about championships before 1959, Yıldırım said, “Are the times of our championships known? They are. We will get them notarized. Then, if necessary, we will send them to the federation. Let the federation think about the rest.”

Explaining that they plan to be involved in federation elections, Yıldırım stated, “We will be involved in the federation elections. A presidential candidate called me. I advised him to include 2-3 people from the 3 big clubs in your board. Take valuable, unbiased people to eliminate these problems. The federation must be impartial first; this needs to be established.”

Wishing success to Fenerbahçe Beko in the THY European League Final Four, Yıldırım concluded his remarks by saying, “Everything is wrong, has the club institutionalized? We will return to 2018. These 6 years are lost. We need to move forward. Who made İsmail Kartal Fenerbahçe’s coach? Hopefully, we will be champions, and we will talk accordingly. My statement may have affected the players working with Mourinho in the derby. If a new person comes, they might play differently in a positive way. There has been a contribution.”