Director of basketball at Galatasaray Yiğit Şardan, the scapegoat of the scandal which has rocked the Turkish basketball scene, called it quits last week.On Saturday Chairman Adnan Polat was hit by stomach spasms and canceled a scheduled trip to Ankara, where he was due to speak on the future of the Seyrantepe Stadium.
To recap, the Galatasaray Café Crown basketball team fielded suspended player Cemal Nalga by making him don the No. 7 jersey of injured player Tufan Ersöz during two warm-up matches in Germany in September. Galatasaray has become a laughingstock, and friends and foes alike are questioning the wisdom of this fraudulent action.
The ongoing scandal also affected the performance of Café Crown during their Men’s Beko Turkish Basketball League (TBL) derby against Efes Pilsen in İstanbul on Friday night. Efes Pilsen won 83-73 and even Efes coach Ergin Ataman sympathized with the opponent.
“The Galatasaray scandal has been over-exaggerated,” he said. “And I can say this affected its players negatively during the match. But as the league leader we have to go out there and do what has to be done. I congratulate my players and also the Galatasaray players for putting up a good fight.”
On Saturday, Erdemirspor added to the woes of winless Darüşşafaka Cooper Tires with an 84-82 victory over the visiting side at the Erdemir Sports Arena. Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi showed staying power, beating Oyak Renault 75-71 at the Atatürk Sports Hall in Mersin despite trailing by eight points (21-13) at the end of the first quarter.
