Ufuk Şansal, board member responsible for women’s basketball and women’s football branches at Fenerbahçe Club, said that they want to reach the fourth cup of the season in basketball and the first championship in football.
Ufuk Şansal made evaluations about Fenerbahçe Opet and Fenerbahçe ilanVev Women’s Football Team, which will compete in the FIBA Europa League Final Six (EuroLeague) to be held in Zaragoza, Spain.
Underlining that they were very excited before the trip to Zaragoza, Ufuk Şansal said, “Our team and we are very excited. First, we will move to Salamanca. We will have a friendly match here and go to Zaragoza on Wednesday. We will watch the first matches there and wait for our opponent. We have won the cup twice before. We want to win it for the third time and present it to our country and our community. Our players are ready, our technical team is ready. We are literally waiting for these matches. Everyone is excited, our level of form is “There is only one thing missing: Kayla McBride cannot be with us, she would love to be with us, but she is in the USA. She gave great support and strength to our team throughout the season. Playing with her would make our job much easier. Our new transfer, Breanna Stewart, has won the EuroLeague title before. I hope we will win the cup and return to our country.” he said.
Reminding that they won the Presidential Cup and the Women’s Turkish Cup in women’s basketball and won the league championship after they took office in September, Ufuk Şansal said, “It is an incredible feeling.” He described it by saying.
Underlining that the women’s team has not lost in 31 matches in 3 competitions in Türkiye, Şansal said, “The success here belongs entirely to our players, technical and administrative staff. There is a very important effort from the past managements here. I would like to thank those who contributed. We are just trying to do our duty. We stand by the players, we support them, we try to motivate them. The friendship between them is very nice. As our president puts it, all the players who ‘head to kick’ are here. The biggest architects of this success are our players.” made the statement.
“THE EVENTS WE DID NOT WANT TO SEE IN TURKISH SPORTS HAPPENED”
Speaking about the Fenerbahçe arkaVev Women’s Football Team, which is the undefeated leader in the Turkcell Women’s Football Super League with 22 wins and 2 draws in 24 matches, Ufuk Şansal said that he is very happy that the team continues its path without defeat.
Emphasizing that they did not experience defeat in Türkiye in both women’s basketball and women’s football, Şansal said:
“I am proud of our women. Both our basketball and football teams are doing very well. I hope we can finish the season like this. We will play away against Galatasaray in 2 weeks. They have one game missing, there is a 7-point difference. If they win the Yüksekova matches, the race will continue with a 4-point difference. We want to beat Galatasaray away and make things easier for ourselves, if possible, we want to go early. But this is football, I don’t want to talk too early, all kinds of results can happen. There, too, we want to thank our coach and our players. “I trust them. They have worked hard since the beginning of the season. They are focused now, their motivation is very good. We lost one of our best players there too, Martha Kok was injured. We would have been more comfortable if she was among us. But I hope we can finish the season with the championship and present our first championship to our fans and community.”
Drawing attention to what happened in the away match of the women’s football team against Yüksekova Sports Club, Şansal continued his words as follows:
“There were events that we did not want to see in women’s football, or more precisely in Turkish sports. Events that we did not want to attribute to the whole of Yüksekova and Şemdinli. There was a very tense atmosphere. There were objects thrown from the stands to our bench. Some of them hit our players, one of them hit our coach’s head. We won the match under difficult conditions. It was important for us to return from there with a victory. We are currently waiting for the sanctions from the federation regarding the match. We played under difficult conditions. Events that we do not want to be repeated.”
“Hopefully we will make 4 out of 4 with both teams and pose here with the trophies”
Answering the question about the election decision taken by Fenerbahçe President Sadettin Saran, Ufuk Şansal underlined that they focused on their work.
Stating that they felt the support of president Saran and the board of directors in both women’s football and women’s basketball throughout the season, Şansal said, “Our president always followed the branches closely. His support was great on the road to success. We do not look at the selection process, we only focus on our work. We are trying to do whatever our duty is until the end of the season. Hopefully, we will be champions in women’s football for the first time and win the European League in women’s basketball. We want to present these cups to our entire community, our president, our management and our fans.” he said.
Referring to Fenerbahçe Beko Men’s Basketball Team, Ufuk Şansal stated that they are in constant contact with Cem Ciritçi, the board member responsible for men’s basketball, and said, “Mr. Cem is doing very successful work. Hopefully, they will end the season with the championship. Our dream together is for both our men’s and women’s teams to be EuroLeague champions. We are dreaming this dream together. Cem also deserves it, the basketball branch deserves it. I wholeheartedly believe that the men’s basketball team will also be EuroLeague champions. Great effort.” “They are giving, I congratulate them all. I hope we can make it 4 out of 4 with both teams and pose here with the trophies.” he said.
FINALLY GIVING A MESSAGE TO THE FANS, SAID THE FOLLOWING:
“We thank our fans very much. They are always with us and support us. They have been the driving force with their energy throughout the season. There is an away ban throughout the season, we want this ban to be lifted as soon as possible. Basketball spectators need to increase. This cannot be achieved with a ban. Basketball spectators should be able to enter the halls. Our fans have always been with us, I thank them. I hope we can win the EuroLeague championship and present it to our fans.”
