Beşiktaş Club reacted to the change in the disability score of Said Camara, one of the players of the wheelchair basketball team, in the last part of the season.
Managers of the black-and-white club argued that it was unacceptable that the decision was taken after the quarter-final stage.
Speaking at the press conference held at Süleyman Seba Sports Hall, Beşiktaş Club General Secretary Uğur Fora criticized the timing of the decision and said, “Last week, there was a scandal in the Turkish basketball community. While the game was being played, the rule of the game was changed by the Physically Disabled Sports Federation itself. Wheelchair basketball teams form their squads with a score of 14 points, and while we are planning the year, the scores of each transferred and in-house player are reported to us by the federation. We form the team accordingly. While our player’s disability score was 1 at the beginning of the season.” “It was increased to 2 by the federation. The duration of this is very significant,” he said.
”I HOPE THIS WRONG DECISION WILL BE REVERSED WITHIN THIS WEEK”
Stating that the decision was notified to the club at the quarter-final stage, Fora said:
“Last week, Sunday, our club received a notification. The last 8 teams made it to the quarter-finals, the notification reached us on the day we will play our matches in Konya. We were notified that our valuable player Said Camara’s disability score increased from 1 to 2. It was notified to us not at the beginning of the season, not when the transfer season was open, but 1 day before the quarter-finals. Said has been playing in this country for 12 years. No one has objected for 12 years. What? When we got to the quarter finals, the federation did this in a way that violated law, morality and fair play. We wanted an answer to the question of how the rules change when the game is being played in Türkiye for 12 years. We wrote to the federation last week and asked what criteria or what board decision you did. We appealed to arbitration and we are waiting for the answer from there this week. We will have a semi-final match with Galatasaray on June 15th. “In our meetings with the federation officials, they said that this was the result of the pressure and objections of the 2 clubs. They said that they could not stand this decision. I know that their players also objected to this decision, but I hope that this wrong decision will be reversed within this week.”
KAAN DALAY: FOR REASON, WHILE WE WERE SUCCESSFUL, TWO CLUBS CAME TOGETHER AND BECOME UNION.
Kaan Dalay, the head coach of the black and white team, emphasized that the decision would not deter the team and said, “For some reason, while we were successful, the two clubs came together and united. We are encountering this for the first time. They cannot deter us. We will get out of this. We have a match with Galatasaray in 1 week. We will be held accountable for this. We are behind our fight until the end.”
SAID CAMARA: THE FEDERATION MADE A WRONG DECISION
Stating that the change in obstacle score made him sad, Said Camara used the following statements:
“I am a citizen of Ivory Coast. I have been playing in Türkiye for a long time. I was given 1 point in 2014. I was very demoralized. When I was transferred to Beşiktaş, I fought hard throughout the season. 2 teams are ruining our situation. The Federation made a wrong decision. Such a decision cannot be made. We would understand if it was made at the end of the season. We want to get a cup. It cannot always be the Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray final, we also want to play. Points in the 5 most critical matches. “It’s changing, I didn’t understand that. Basketball is my life, my everything.”
ELÇİN KILIÇ: SPORTS SHOULD BE WIN ONLY BY FIGHTING ON THE FIELD
Branch Manager Elçin Kılıç, who spoke at the meeting, stated that sports should be won on the field and said, “This branch is the best platform for disabled individuals to survive with sports. Sports should only be won by fighting on the field. I do not believe that sports and the championship to be won by fighting outside the field have value in any branch. I believe that we should play on the field and fight on the field. I do not think that this decision taken when we come to the play-offs after 26 matches have been played is realistic.”