The tournament is being held for the second time this year after a one-year break. The beginning of the Fatih World Cup 2 was marked with an opening ceremony held at the university’s Büyükçekmece campus. Eleven former Turkish national team footballers participated, including Hakan Şükür, Ertuğrul Sağlam, Hasan Şaş, İsmail Demiriz, Ali Gültiken, Bülent Korkmaz, Bülent Uygun, Hami Mandıralı, Semih Yuvakuran, Uğur Tütüneker and Ogün Temizkanoğlu as well as Kazakh Ambassador to Turkey Bagdat Amreyev and Fatih University Rector Şerif Ali Tekalan.
The Fatih World Cup features 16 national teams comprising players studying at the university. The countries represented in the tournament are Turkey, Albania, Azerbaijan, Germany, Georgia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Mali, Moldova, Nigeria, Senegal, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. While stressing the importance of friendship during the competition, the team players also said they wanted to win the cup. Macedonia was the champion of the 2008 tournament. The Fatih World Cup 2 will run through April 30.
While speaking about the cultural exchange between Turkey and the other participating countries, Tekalan said they wanted to boost their bonds of friendship through football.
The former footballers were awarded for their contribution to Turkish football, with awards presented by Rector Tekalan.
