Trabzonspor Ordinary General Assembly meeting was held by KTÜ Prof. Dr. It was held at Osman Turan Culture and Congress Center. Trabzonspor President Ertuğrul Doğan and board members were present at the meeting attended by Trabzonspor former president Ahmet Celal Ataman and the claret-blue members. The general assembly, chaired by Ali Sürmen, started with a moment of silence and the reading of the National Anthem. At the meeting, Trabzonspor Club General Manager Sinan Zengin read the activity, administrative and financial reports of the claret-blue club, while Supervisory Board Member İsmet Keskin announced the club’s net debt as 4 billion 45 million 369 million TL as of October 31, 2023. After Keskin’s speech, the board of directors was discharged from administrative and financial aspects by majority vote.
Making a speech at the general assembly, Trabzonspor President Ertuğrul Doğan stated that they are working very hard to make the club one of the most important clubs in Turkey in terms of material and spiritual terms and said, “Our goals are big and the way to achieve them is great financial discipline, creating new income sources, being a smart club.” We are aware that it is a matter of management policy. As a community, we know that the championship is a tradition for Trabzonspor. I would like to remind you again that the most important issue is the economy in order to experience many more championships in this fertile land. Very important works are being carried out to make our club one of the most important clubs in Turkey, both materially and spiritually. “We are continuing new activities on many issues to make our fans proud of Trabzonspor,” he said.
Stating that there is no end to the sea in Turkish football, President Doğan said, “We are on the edge of the cliff. There is an important broadcasting tender this year. We are in the days that concern all our clubs very closely and no one has the luxury of making mistakes. The broadcasting tender has fallen from 500 million dollars to below 90 million dollars. For example, even if Trabzonspor gets 3 points in any away game, we have a level of broadcasting income that cannot cover the expenses of that away game. A club union meeting was held during the week and important issues were discussed. One of the most important issues was the broadcast tender. Hopefully, this time, there will be a single broadcaster organization, as was the case last time. We think that it will be a tender in which 2 or 3 organizations will participate, not 2 or 3. Our esteemed federation president and the board of directors have important studies on this. As a result of these studies, we can say the following. Many issues are being discussed, especially the play-offs, effective from next year. The main reason why these are being discussed. To increase the broadcasting revenue, which decreased to approximately 90 million dollars, to 200 million dollars. “If these stages can be reached, I think our clubs will breathe a little bit,” he said.
“IT IS A SYSTEM THAT CANNOT EXPAND THE MARKET AND IS FAR FROM MAKING THE STADIUM ECONOMY WORK.”
Stating that the current system of e-tickets is an ineffective system, Doğan said, “One of the most important issues is the e-ticket tender. As it is known, the current system is a system that provides income well below the potential and contributes to the clubs with very funny figures. Frankly, it is a system that cannot expand the market and is far from working the stadium economy.” “It is an ineffective system. Our Federation is working very seriously on this issue. Our expectation from the Federation is to maximize these opportunities and turn them into very serious money, bringing important sources of income to our teams,” he said.
“I CAN SAY THAT WE REMOVED THE TROUBLE IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE WITH ALL OUR GOOD WILL”
Emphasizing that 38-40 million TL was collected for the championship monument with the participation of 19-20 people, Ertuğrul Doğan said, “Since it does not make sense to build a monument that will contain the names of only 18-19 people, Mr. We are making a plan under the leadership of Emre Birhan Yazıcı and we are currently preparing. Double Pass is a company that has been operating for years with very important clubs in France, England, Germany and Belgium. They may have shortcomings, we may also have shortcomings. It has been seriously active for approximately 6 months. As the city of Trabzon, we know very well that a process of at least 3-4 years needs to pass in order to get any results from the infrastructure. I can say that we have removed the manipulation in the infrastructure with all our good intentions. It does not matter what its name is. The important thing is that in my mind, the manipulation does not work in the infrastructure. I do not mean to criticize anyone here. “I’m not saying that. We’ve seen these things for years, we put our finger on the wound we saw and eliminated it, and no one can say the opposite,” he said.
“WE HAVE NO SECRETS”
“We have no secrets about transfers,” said President Doğan, adding, “As I promised on the first day, regarding transfers, I first receive our teacher’s request. He puts the signature of the monitoring committee next to him, the vice president signs next to him, and the president signs next to him. All these signatures are signed by our supervisory board and other board members.” “It is shared entirely as a file. Everyone can see it and we can submit it. We have no secrets about this,” he said.
EAGLE LAND IN ISTANBUL
Stating that they made the official application for the Kartal land in Istanbul about 2 months ago, Doğan said, “A study was carried out regarding the purchase of the Kartal land and the development of a project on it. They will inform us about this study in Ankara next week. We also “We will do our planning and bring that land, that is, the property, to Trabzonspor, make an agreement with Emlak Konut or TOKİ, and hopefully make our club’s debts payable,” he said.
“WE PAID 90 MILLION EUROS FROM THE CLUB’S COST IN 8 MONTHS”
Stating that they are trying to be careful about the debt of the claret-blue club and plan everything at every moment, Ertuğrul Doğan said, “This is the debt figure when we put the current exchange rate differences and increasing interest rates on top. We are trying to be very careful here and plan everything at every moment. We may be lacking for Trabzonspor.” But we can’t go wrong. I would like to thank my friends on the board of directors for their devoted and well-intentioned work since the day we arrived. We paid 90 million Euros from the club’s coffers in 8 months. If this payment had not been made, we would have seen where that debt would go. If that 90 million Euros had not been paid, those agreements would have been terminated. We would be faced with a compensation of around 70 million Euros due to the termination. Plus the moral burden on the community, plus the burden on the sponsors. In other words, we would be in a difficult situation. 70 million Euros of this 90 million Euros is completely sponsorship. In other words, there will be no return to the club. Hopefully, we will add another 25 million Euros to this figure with a project we will complete at the end of January. “Believe me, we are trying to do whatever we can,” he said.
“WE HAVE BEEN BACK FROM THE EDGE OF THE CLIFF, THE ROAD IS VERY LONG AND DIFFICULT”
Emphasizing that they are trying to protect the financial structure as much as they can to ensure the happiness of the Trabzonspor community and to see the championship again, President Doğan said, “As a business person, it is not possible for such a thing to happen under normal conditions and for the company to continue its activities. This is here because it is for Trabzonspor. It needs to happen with transformation. We are also aspiring to this transformation, I said this the first day we came. We have come back from the edge of the cliff, the road is very long and difficult. It is very important for this city to see championships again, but it is important to see championships with a sustainable economy. Otherwise, what we see is like the championship It happens. Therefore, we have experienced these, we have seen and experienced them. We know what to do and how to do it. My only request is that we please stand by our coach and our players and support them. We cannot do this walk alone. We cannot finish this walk without your support. I expect your support in this regard. ” he concluded his words.