Showed up last night for a darts captains' meeting and Flying Dutchman Kanka broke to me the news that Ankaraspor had been relegated. Celebratory drinks all round!
This morning I actually read the report from the Professional Disciplinary Board and, as has been discussed at length on this blog - especially in the comments sections - it was decided that Ankaraspor and Ankaragucu were controlled by the same legal entity and therefore Ankaraspor were immediately relegated. I'm not sure of the exact reason why it was Ankaraspor and not Ankaragucu were relegated but maybe someone can help me out on this.
In addition Ankaragucu chairman Ahmet Gokcek has been banned from attending matches for six months and the rest of the Ankaragucu board banned for three months. The chairman of Ankaraspor has also been banned from attending matches for six months.
It isn't exactly clear yet what this means for promotion/relegation this season with some suggestions that three teams will still go done (meaning four will come up from the Bank Asya Lig), or that only two teams will go down (and only three come up).
As expected, Melih Gokcek has been spitting chips saying he will appeal all the way the Universal Sports Court, or whatever it is called. Good to see our mayor is concentrating on the important issues the city needs addressed.
In the meantime, time to look up the spelling of that German word which describes the state of maliciously enjoying the misfortune of others ... ah yes... schadenfreude
The Round Ball in Ankara! Dedicated to football lovers in Ankara (Except for those who follow Osmanlispor)
Jim, you dont seem to be at all worried that Ankargucu will suffer any sanctions over this,why so?Also I'd guess they'll just relegate the bottom two clubs at the end of season along with Ankaraspor and have the usual top three from Aysa League replace them.
ReplyDeleteIt leaves the top flight unbalanced now, with every week one team not having an opponent to play.Bit of a farce really.
Dublin Neil.
Yes Neil, you are spot on about it being a bit of a farce. However, if you live in Turkey then you might not take that view !!
ReplyDeleteI was going to post something about it this morning but Oz Kanka Chris (back in Ankara after his heroics on the cricket pitch in Greece) beat me to it.
Yes, I am a wee bit worried Neil, but I think the knives are only out for Daddy Gokcek (IMG) and HE is not quite finished with the TFF yet. Baby Gokcek will be serving his Military Service soon and will spend 3 months of his punishment in the Army !!
Unusually for IMG, he has been using some very strong words towards the TFF and the Disciplinary Committee (he is quoted as using the word 'Shit' against them !). He says that the TFF is taking revenge against him and have a grudge against him because he didn't vote for the present Chairman !
Because Ankaraspor is a registered company, he plans to take this matter through the courts and he will also make an appeal of the decision to the TFF.
Assuming the appeal fails, the Ankaraspor players will have a window of 15 days in which to find another Club.
As for the 4 matches which Ankaraspor has played, they will remain 'as played' and all the teams scheduled to play them from this point on this season will receive 3 points for every match.
So, we still haven't heard the end of this by a long way.
In conclusion, and Oz Kanka will choke on his Tuborg Lager when he reads this ....... I think Ankaraspor has been treated too harshly and that someone in the TFF has a personal grudge not only against IMG, but against the Club and IMG's vision of building a successful team from ANKARA !!!
News just in that Ankaraspor cannot appeal to Fifa or Cas. That leaves the trade courts in Turkey and a possible appeal to snigger, snigger the European Court of Human Rights - according to Milliyet that is.
ReplyDeleteOh, and all the games Ankaraspor have played so far this season are expected to be considered losses, as far as I can understand.
ReplyDeleteThis whole matter was badly managed on all levels: TFF, Ankaraspor, Ankaragücü. They are all to blame for the farce (perfect word to describe it) this super lig became.
ReplyDeleteI smell something fishy here. The end result of all this circus will be: Ankaragücü in the hands of Gökcek family.
I couldn't care less about what happens to Ankaraspor, but this whole relegation business smells rotten.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I find the TFF's concern for "competitiveness" to be quite laughable in this instance, given their tolerance for three teams winning the championship year after year. Their sense of parity must be a bit skewed for them to be so concerned about two bottom-of-the-bracket teams.
Secondly, why relegate Ankaraspor and not Ankaragucu as well? According the English-version of Hurriyet: "The [TFF] added that there was no need to relegate Ankaragücü since the problem was 'the relationship between two clubs that were in the same decision, which would harm the sporting competition,' and Ankaraspor’s relegation was enough to stop the process." I don't know about you, but I find this explanation to be very suspect, to say the least.
Thirdly, I'm still not convinced of the illegality of anything that took place beyond the purported violations of "competitiveness". I can't pass judgment of the Gökçek's involvement in the matter at hand until these details come to light.
Irrespective of your feelings towards I.M.G., you must sense some political bias in the ruling. My limited command of Turkish inhibits my access to the documents on these events, so please fill me in with the missing information.
None of this matters if we cant win a game...GO (Philadelphia) EAGLES!
ReplyDeleteAn appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, that I would love to see.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Phillie Kanka Jamie. Let's see some points and a movement UP the table. I'm so pissed off with all the recent bullshit and political manoeuvring.
ReplyDeleteOur recent stats (over the past few years) against Gencler have been abysmal to say the least, so the time has come to 'turn the tide' and take a giant step forward !
C'mon boyz .... time to do the biz ... and wouldn't it be luvvvlie for ex-Gencler Boy Mehmet Cakir to score the winner ??!!