The ceremony started with a moment of silence for the civilians who lost their lives in Gaza. Mehmet Büyükekşi, who started his speech by condemning the attack on the hospital in Gaza, said, “We condemn all kinds of cruelty. This week, our teams will take to the field with black bands and banners in all professional competitions. There will be a moment of silence before the matches.”
Stating that they announced a historic sponsorship agreement for Turkish refereeing, Büyükekşi said, “We will start a long-term friendship. With the 4-year agreement, there will be a sponsor on the referees’ jerseys for the first time. They will support the development of Turkish refereeing. Since we took office, we have signed many projects to move Turkish football forward.” We have undertaken many important projects for these and for referees. We have also increased the match fees of our referees significantly. Training new referees has been among our priorities. I stated that the two most important issues are education and experience. We have renewed our referee training and made it permanent. “There is absolutely a need for training for the development of our referees. That’s why we established the academy. We meet the UEFA criteria and receive training in this way. The starting age for refereeing has been reduced to 15. All these efforts will pay off. I would like to thank NG Kütahya Seramik for the value they provide,” he said. .
“IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF REFEREES AND THEIR SUCCESSFULNESS BOTH IN OUR LEAGUE AND IN THE INTERNATIONAL ARENA”
Stating that Turkish football has experienced great happiness in the last 2 weeks, Büyükekşi said, “We have experienced 2 great happiness on behalf of Turkish football. We have finally achieved our goal of hosting the European Championship. We will host the 2032 European Football Championship together with Italy. On the other hand, our National Team It brought great joy. We defeated Croatia and Latvia. We guaranteed to go to EURO 2024. Our women’s national team took the leadership seat in the Nations C League by winning 2 matches. You all know the success of our teams in the European cups in the last 2 seasons. In the UEFA rankings We rose from 20th place to 9th place. These are all important steps for brand value that make us proud. In this sense, the development of referees is extremely important for them to be successful both in our league and in the international arena. In the meetings we held with our referees, they told us that their first goal should be to be in the 2024 European Championship. , I say they blow the whistle in the World Cup, we currently have a referee in the Champions League. “We want the number to increase, to officiate semi-finals and finals, and for Turkish refereeing to raise new legends,” he said.
ERKAN GÜRAL: WE MUST ALWAYS PROTECT OUR REFEREES
Hoping that the agreement will be beneficial for both parties, Erkan Güral said, “I am proud to be signing a new business partnership today. Thank you very much for giving us this opportunity. We should always take care of our referees. I think we should contribute to their personal development. Criticism is the end. “It is very easy. We have always been involved in sports. I would like to say that I dream of projects that will strengthen this unity. I hope that our new cooperation will bring good. I hope that this genocidal oppression in Gaza will end as soon as possible,” he said.