TFF President Haciosmanoglu’s Controversial Statement
Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu brought various corruption allegations about the Mehmet Buyukeksi era to the forefront. The President of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), Ibrahim Ethem Haciosmanoglu, discussed various corruption claims regarding the federation management during Mehmet Buyukeksi’s tenure in statements made on Ekol TV. Haciosmanoglu addressed many issues, from employees receiving salaries without doing any work to irregularities in financial reports, from exorbitant hospitality expenses for the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament to allegations of corruption in sponsorship agreements, and conveyed the message that they would pursue these corruptions.
SPONSORSHIP FEES REQUESTED TO BE SENT TO A CLUB
Haciosmanoglu stated, “They presented a financial report showing a surplus of 5 million lira to the general assembly. When our friends examined it, there was an open balance of 278 million 342 thousand 398 lira. They manipulated the financial reports. I asked the financial director, and he said, ‘We did this so we wouldn’t have a problem with the approval.’ Of course, we dismissed him. We will file a criminal complaint. They wanted our main sponsor Puma to send an extra 200,000 Euro payment first to a club, then to the wall advertising company, but the company refused to accept it.”
CONTINUED STAY AFTER THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Haciosmanoglu stated that there were hospitality expenses amounting to 4 million 681 thousand Euro for Euro 2024: “After the championship ended, guests stayed there for 2, 3, 4 days longer. There was an additional expense of 70,000 Euro. They stayed not in match venues, but in other luxury places. Why are you still there after the championship is over? The managers paid around 500,000 Euro. Tickets worth 2 million 145 thousand Euro were purchased. 633,000 Euro was paid for boxes. Approximately 2 million 700 thousand Euro in ticket fees was paid to UEFA.”
IBAN NUMBER BELONGED TO A BARBER
Haciosmanoglu gave another striking example related to the corruption: “There is a friend named Cengiz Gokay, who represented Ankaragucu in the European Championship, along with his children. He paid his own expenses. When these ticket matters came up, he asked the relevant parties, ‘I bought a ticket worth 400,000 lira, which account did I send the money to, can you check?’ The IBAN number turned out to belong to a barber in Kırklareli.”
THE MANAGER HAS 587 DAYS OF LEAVE
Haciosmanoglu stated that they took over a ‘farm’ from Mehmet Buyukeksi’s management: “We are working to return this farm to normal. First, we closed the regions. There are regional directorates, and each has an official vehicle and a driver. The compensation is 600,000 Euro. A manager in one region has 587 days of leave. He hasn’t used any of his leave because he has always been on leave. We will fix all of these.”
