Beşiktaş Club President Ahmet Nur Çebi made important statements about the sports agenda of the club and the country at the event held in Vodafone Park.
Highlights from the interview given by President Ahmet Nur Cebi to Al Mayadeen are as follows:
“We became champions during the pandemic period. I hope God will not experience such a period again. We managed to become champions while we were in the pandemic and economic difficulties. We have the situation to be second this season. I think we will have a chance to compete in Europe. Now you have to think of football as a company. Clubs are good. If they are not managed, they will suffer. Our club also suffers economically. Clubs are affected by the economies they are in and from careless expenditures. As the purchasing level of people increases, the income of the clubs also increases. Transport and water do not turn the mill. You have to create resources. Infrastructure should be given importance. Young football players should be trained at low cost, and we have to send it with high testimonial fees.
“I DO NOT MEAN LET MESSI COME HERE”
There is no other choice but to make money. If clubs spend more than their income, they get into debt. When these debts enter the interest spiral, the situation becomes unmanageable. Many clubs are changing hands around the world. Our fans do not welcome this situation as we are a historical club. There is a section that asks how you can borrow Beşiktaş, but there is another section that says how the championship will come, and does not make any calculations. As managers, we try to balance these two views. The secret of the success of European football is the infrastructure. Doing nothing does not mean Messi will come here. First we make money, then we spend.
“WE SHOULD CONSIDER THE INFRASTRUCTURE OTHER THAN FOOTBALL”
Football in Europe is at a very advanced level. Football teams can attract more spectators to the stands and have a high brand value. The brand value of Turkish clubs increases when they go to Europe. Therefore, being in Europe is very beneficial for Turkish clubs. The interest in football in our country is too high to be compared with basketball and volleyball. Our fans are closely interested in each of our branches, but football has a different place. We have to focus on infrastructure in our branches other than football. While the budget between football teams is more balanced, there may be a gap between the team budgets in other branches. As Beşiktaş, we attach importance to branches other than football so that young people can be healthy and moral and stay away from bad habits.
“STATES GIVE LAND TO CLUBS IN EUROPE”
Infrastructure is very important in Europe. Our stadiums are at European standards, but our infrastructure facilities are unfortunately not at European standards. In Europe, states gave lands to clubs, built facilities, and those clubs earned income by training and selling players from their infrastructure. We are behind Europe in this regard.
“I DON’T FIND THE DISCRIMINATION OF LOCAL AND FOREIGN CORRECT”
While there can be eight foreign players on the field in our country, there should be three Turkish players. Nothing is forced. If the performance of our domestic players is at a satisfactory level, there is no need to transfer foreign players. There is a need to transfer foreign players. I do not find the distinction between domestic and foreigners correct in any area of life. There are good players and bad players.
“I DAMN RACISM”
Sport; It is made for brotherhood, peace and tranquility. There can be no discrimination here. I would enjoy it more if there was one player from each country on the field. I condemn the racism against black football players. Each race has its own beauty. No one has the right to make ugly comments about people’s race.”