President Yıldırım Explains It Explicitly

President Yıldırım Explains It Explicitly
Translated And Edited By Ozgur R. Nazilli

President Aziz Yıldırım is finally fed up with the countless rumors and articles that are made up about Fenerbahce practically ever day of the week. Before boarding the plane that would take him and the team to Kayseri for yesterday's Kayserispor game, he answered the questions of the media.

Regarding the unending stream of transfer rumours: "We keep denying them but it is out of control now. You wrote that Murat Özaydınlı and Neşet Yalçın have signed players on secret contracts. Also for 2 days now, you keep insisting that I went to England to sign Carew. You cannot even agree on who to make the transfer rumors about. One newspaper says Milan Baros, another says Adriano. You mention the transfer fees to be around 25 Million Euros and say that "Fenerbahçe will sign these players". Yet another newspaper says that Carew's club is looking to accept a bid around 4 Million Pounds. These kinds of rumors are harming Fenerbahçe."

On the issue of Appiah and Kezman: " You sound very convinced that both Appiah and Kezman will be leaving the club. You cannot make this decision. That decision is ours to make as the Fenerbahçe Board and the coaching staff. Neither the Board nor Zico's staff is planning a move of this kind."

"We are all seeing the progress of Fenerbahce Futbol Team. Please do not try to ruin this in the hopes of selling a few more newspapers each day. Because I did not go to meet with Carew, and I will not do so. We are not looking to sign him. Carew was on our agenda during the summer, however the price of 10 Million Pounds they asked from us was not acceptable, therefore that transfer story has ended. "

On the very popular topic of Adriano: "First of all, know that Fenerbahce will not buy Adriano for 25 Million Euros. We are not looking to buy a striker, or any other position for that matter. Semih has been called up to the National Squad. We want a player who can score against opponents like PSV Eindhoven and Beşiktaş, and Semih is doing that very well. What more could we want?"

"You are hurting our players' morale by coming up with these kinds of rumors every day. You are trying to demoralize Appiah and Kezman. Stop trying to make your papers more appealing by creating controversies. Please, let us focus on news that will encourage our players. If you keep creating these transfer rumors, our players might start doubting themselves. This will hurt Fenerbahçe."

In answer to yet another question on the subject of transfers: "Fenerbahce is a professional club, and as a professional club we will not take any monetary action outside the transfer windows except paying the player wages. The transfer window is at January, and that is when we will discuss this issue. Besides, we do not have to make a transfer even at the transfer window. We will not pay sums of 25 Million Euros just for the sake of transferring a player, and then put the club into debt. We are not in the bid for Carew, Baros, or Adriano. If we decide to make a transfer, we will sit with our manager (Zico) and discuss this when January comes. We will look into our options depending on the needs of that time. Please, I am asking you to stop these rumors. I went to Geneva for personal business a few days ago, and I will do so again, this time to Zurich, soon. Please do not see this opportunity to fabricate even more transfer rumors."

"Managers (In this context, it means personal agents, not team managers) regularly create rumors about their players in order to increase demand when the time comes. There is no official offer for any of our players yet, but we keep reading that 7 of our players are in high demand from European teams. Do not fall for the tricks of the players' managers."

On a final note, President Yıldırım emphasized that the media should be supportive of Fenerbahçe's players, not trying to unsettle them: "Please do not make up stories regarding Fenerbahçe. Semih is representing Turkey now, yet you keep insisting that we are looking to buy Adriano to replace him. How will he concentrate on his duties for both Fenerbahçe and the National Team, if he keeps reading rumors like this?"

"Appiah will stay, Kezman will stay, and if we need extra players to strengthen our squad, we will talk to Zico when the January transfer window comes. We will not do this talk before January, and we will release a statement regarding it when we actually do it."

President Yıldırım declined to answer questions that were not on this issue of transfer rumors, to show how strongly he felt about them.