Uefa claims the AKP goverment in Turkey oppresses Turkish Football Federation (TFF) for the upcoming presidential elections on 27th February.

Istanbul / NationalTurk – Uefa says the governing body of Turkish football is constantly under pressure and is being manipulated by Turkey’s ruling AKP government as TFF will select its new president in next week’s elections.

After former TFF boss resigned amid Turkey Match-Fixing chaos, the vacant TFF Presidency saw over 20 candidates before the Presidential elections on 27th February.

Besiktas President Yıldırım Demiroren, whose ties with Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has risen significantly over the last year, is one of the leading candidates for the job. Meanwhile ex-minister in the AKP administration, Kürşat Tüzmen declared his candidacy only to withdraw it later.

Former Minister of Trade Kürşat Tüzmen, who in a surprising last minute move announced his bid for the presidency of the Turkish Football Federation last Monday, had withdrawn his candidacy in another suprising move. Tüzmen was a close aide to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and pundits claim Recep Tayyip Erdogan has played vital role at his sudden announcement and the withdrawal for TFF Presidency.

Battle lines drawn for Turkish Football Federation presidency

Meanwhile the opponents argue that Yıldırım Demirören’s Beşiktaş is seriously implicated in the ongoing match-fixing scandal and that it would therefore not be ethical for the boss of such a club to be TFF president until the crisis has been resolved. Besiktas and Uefa are also on not the best terms, since many former managers and players of Besiktas have appealed Besiktaş to UEFA and CAS ( Court of Arbitration for Sport).

The interesting thing, though, is that most of the teams incriminated in Turkey match fixing case are supporting Yıldırım Demirören, what makes further commenting pointless.

Demirören supporters: İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor, Beşiktaş, Eskişehirspor, Manisaspor, Gençlerbirliği, Fenerbahçe, Sivasspor, Gaziantepspor, Antalyaspor, Orduspor, Kayserispor, Kardemir Karabükspor, Ankaragücü and Samsunspor.

Turkish Teams against Demirören as TFF President: City Rivals Galatasaray and Bursaspor.

Abstentions: Mersin İdman Yurdu, Trabzonspor.

Teams named in the match-fixing scandal: Super League Clubs : Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, Trabzonspor, Sivasspor, İBB, Mersin İY and Manisaspor; Second League Outfit Giresun ( Olgun Peker, the prime suspect, was the president of Giresunspor)

Uefa : Turkish Government is manipulating TFF Presidential Elections

Uefa’s intervention and claim that Turkish Football is oppressed by the ruling government will undoubtedly play a vital role in the  future of Turkish football.