[Sport] Ankara ... Turkey is "for money" in Doha's arms.

[HiTLeR]

 

The Turkish Football Association’s decision to hold a Super Cup match between the two champions of the local league and cup in Qatar in 2021 sparked a wave of criticism in Turkish political and sports circles.

Many Turks view the move as part of “pushing Turkey into the arms of Qatar,” as this will be the first time that the Turkish Super Match will be held in a country outside Turkey or Germany, in which millions of Turks live, according to the Turkish newspaper “Ahwal”. .

While the Turkish Football Association justified the establishment of the Super Match in Qatar in 2021 with the outbreak of the Corona epidemic, this argument did not deceive the critics and opposition MPs who know very well the extent to which Turkish football is linked to politics, which has always been intertwined with Qatar.

The "ben Sports" group acquired the largest digital publishing platform in Turkey "Digitürk" in 2015, at a time when the Qatari group owns the rights to broadcast super matches. The decision to hold the Turkish Super Cup match in Doha.

The Turkish newspaper stated that the "BN Sports" group stopped its support for the Turkish Football Association and other Turkish clubs, after the Turkish League was stopped last March due to the spread of the Corona virus.

The Qatari network had previously threatened to cancel the broadcasting agreement, at a time when the Turkish lira witnessed a sharp decline, due to the failure of the Turkish Union to pay its dues according to a fixed price of the currency, which made it in dire need of money.

The deputy of the opposition Republican People's Party, Erdogan Toprak, was among those who strongly criticized the decision to hold the Turkish Super Cup match in Qatar, and asked on his Twitter account: “What is this love of the ruling authority in Turkey for Qatar? Can BN Sports now run our football as well? ”

But this was not the only controversial topic recently regarding Turkish sports.

On the other hand, there have been intense discussions about corruption in Turkish football, after the three biggest clubs in Istanbul, Besiktas, Fenerbahce and Galatasaray, presented a lackluster performance this year.

Critics have attributed the poor performance this season to the referee’s choices, as well as “state interference in the game,” according to the Turkish newspaper.

The two teams fighting for the top of the Premier League, Istanbul Basaksehir and Trabzonspor, are receiving support from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his son-in-law, Treasury Finance Minister Berat Albayrak.

In July, Istanbul Basaksehir celebrated its first championship in the Turkish Super League, after its rival Trabzonspor suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Konya Sport, while Trabzonspor defeated Alanya Sport to win the Turkish Cup at the end of the same month.

But in June, the Trabzon Bar Association filed a criminal complaint against the President of Istanbul, Basaksehir and members of the Turkish Football Association, for allegedly influencing the rulers' decisions against Trabzonpor.

Goksel Gümüşdag, president of the Istanbul Basaksehir club, has a good relationship with Amina Erdogan, the wife of the Turkish president, and the main sponsor of the club, which Erdogan says he established himself, is a company that owns a hospital chain owned by Turkish Health Minister Fakhruddin Kuja.