9,950 signatures completed! Now all eyes are on Ali Koç

Suleyman Arat [email protected]

Creation Date: July 03, 2025 07:00

The signatures collected for the purpose of holding an extraordinary general assembly at Fenerbahçe were delivered to the club's high council yesterday. High Council Chairman Şekip Mosturoğlu received the signatures, which were reported to be notarized, from Emrah Tünay, Fenerbahçe 2000 Association Chairman Şevket Yılmaz, Muharrem Kaya and Hasan Özdemir, who participated in the signature campaign. The signatures will be forwarded to the club's general secretary after being checked.

They went with 100 people to deliver the signatures

Emrah Tünay, who made a statement in front of the club building where they came with approximately 100 people, said that 9,700 signatures were delivered.

Tünay said, “Approximately 2 months ago, we started collecting signatures from our fans and congress members for an extraordinary general assembly as a reaction to Fenerbahçe’s mismanagement. 9,700 signatures were delivered. Our expectation from now on is for the decision to hold an extraordinary general assembly with elections to be made. We delivered the signatures in accordance with the bylaws.”

According to the bylaws, the number of members who pay their dues is important.

Following this development, all eyes turned to Fenerbahçe President Ali Koç and the board of directors. As stated by Emrah Tünay, who led the petition campaign, “According to Article 20, Clause (c) of the Fenerbahçe Sports Club Association Statute, the club management is obliged to ‘call an extraordinary general assembly meeting within one month’ upon the written application of at least one-fifth of the congress members who have paid their dues on time.”

The ministry takes into account the total number of members

Currently, more than 9,387 (9,700) signatures have been collected, which is one-fifth of the 46,939 members of Fenerbahçe Club who pay their dues on time. However, based on an opinion received from the Ministry of Youth and Sports on the subject, President Ali Koç and the board of directors stated that they would take into consideration 20 percent (10,995) of the 'total number of members of Fenerbahçe Club' (54,977) and not the 'number of members who pay their dues'. In this case, 4 critical questions come to mind:

HERE ARE 4 CRITICAL QUESTIONS WAITING FOR ANSWERS:

1-) Will the management act according to the club charter or the opinion received from the Ministry of Youth and Sports?

2-) Ali Koç said in his statement to TRT in May, "If signatures are collected and a congress is held, I will not run for president again." What will he do now?

3-) Aziz Yıldırım had also put forward the condition that he would be a candidate if 16,465 signatures were collected, which is 1 more than the 16,464 votes that Ali Koç received in the last election that he lost. This number could not be reached; will he be a candidate or not?

4-) What decision will Ali Koç and the board of directors make? Will they insist on the extraordinary congress date previously announced as September or will they bring it forward?

ŞEVKET YILMAZ: THE MANAGEMENT IS IGNORING FENERBAHÇE'S BYLAWS

Fenerbahçe 2000 Association President Şevket Yılmaz, who was among the names leading the signature campaign, made a statement before the signatures were delivered and said, “As a result of the signature collection process carried out with great sensitivity and devotion by our members, the quorum clearly defined in the bylaws has been reached.” Stating that the club management was ignoring the provisions of the bylaws, Yılmaz concluded his words as follows:

IT MAY HAVE MANY NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES

"We regret to state that our club management is ignoring the clear provision of our bylaws; and based on an opinion received from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, whose legal validity and binding nature is debatable, they are stating that they will take 20 percent of the total number of members as a basis. This approach is completely contrary to our club's institutional memory and past practices. Furthermore, if our bylaws are not implemented, they are pregnant with many negative consequences."