Beşiktaş Club President Ahmet Nur Cebi, who said that infrastructure should be given importance, said, “The secret of European football’s success is infrastructure. It is not possible to get Messi here without doing anything. First we will make money, then we will spend.”
Beşiktaş President Ahmet Nur Çebi was the guest of Al Mayadeen, the news channel headquartered in Lebanon and broadcasting to the Middle East region. Çebi made important statements about the sports agenda of the club and the country in the broadcast from Vodafone Park.
President Cebi’s statements in the interview he gave to Al Mayadeen are as follows:
“Beşiktaş is a large non-governmental organization. We have a fan community that is active in all kinds of issues you can think of. The people of our community are very different in this regard. We have a very enthusiastic fan community. In a match we played in the Champions League, the opponent stated that he could not play because he was disturbed by the sound. .
1.3 billion people around the world watched the “This toy is my friend” event, which we organized with our supporters for the children affected by the earthquake. We had a great earthquake disaster. Citizens of the Republic of Turkey joined hands and helped our earthquake victims. We opened an aid center in our stadium and delivered the materials sent by the benefactors to the earthquake zone. After the earthquake disaster, sports fans of all colors worked together at our aid center to heal the wounds of the earthquake victims. We took action quickly in the earthquake zone through our associations affiliated to our club. I would like to thank people from all parts of the world who came to the aid of our citizens after the earthquake. In addition, our Muslim brothers have always been with us, I would like to thank them in particular.
Although Beşiktaş was established for sports purposes, it has turned into a large non-governmental organization today. Our people know how to hug each other very well. I would like to thank everyone who acts with the feelings of being a conscientious and moral person. Schools were destroyed in the earthquake. We launched a campaign to build schools in each of the provinces affected by the earthquake. Our campaign continues to receive donations from all over the world. The amount of money doesn’t matter. The important thing is the bond of heart. With the contributions of benefactors, we will have built schools where children will receive education.
We played a special match with Atletico Madrid to help our earthquake victims. Then we met Sabah club from Azerbaijan for the same purpose. Proceeds from these matches will be used to build schools for children. We would like to play matches with any club from the Arabian peninsula for this purpose.
We became champions during the pandemic period. I hope God will never experience such a period again. We managed to become champions while we were in the pandemic and economic difficulties. We are in the second place this season. I think we will have a chance to compete in Europe.
Now you have to think of football like a company. Clubs suffer if they are not managed well. Our club is also suffering from financial difficulties. Clubs are affected by the economies in which they operate and by careless spending. As the level of purchase of people increases, the income of the clubs also increases. The mill does not turn with transport water. You have to create resources. Infrastructure should be given importance. We must train young football players at low cost and send them with high testimonial fees. 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.
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 all 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.
Istanbul is one of the most beautiful cities of our country. The sea adds a different beauty to Istanbul, but every city in our country is very beautiful. Our stadium has a unique beauty due to its location. It is very easy for our fans to reach this stadium.
Human nature is competitive. This feeling is also activated in football. There is great interest in football all over the world. Each country has sports branches that stand out due to its unique characteristics, but football has managed to surpass all of them in time.
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.
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. 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.
The Champions League final will be played in Istanbul. I am happy for my country. I think that the final organization will be very useful for the promotion of our country. I hope it will be a good finale.”