Fenerbahçe-Trabzonspor showdown at match-fixing hearing

Fenerbahçe's jailed chairman, Aziz Yıldırım, said Trabzonspor Chairman Sadri Şener had phone conversations regarding the transfer of players, and that Şener is not jailed even though those dialogues took place while he still remains in prison. Yıldırım was put behind bars on July 3, when the match-fixing investigation started. Yıldırım also said he helped Şener win a tender, the current value of which is TL 92 million, in 1995 without demanding a single kuruş, but he faces several charges for giving money to Manisaspor Chairman Kenan Yaralı.

Şener, on the other hand, said he was not Trabzonspor chairman at the time of the business deal with Yıldırım.

The Fenerbahçe chairman also stated that Trabzonspor is involved in dialogue with political parties, including the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and opposition parties, the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

Yıldırım further claimed that statements from tapped phone conversations that are, according to the indictment, encoded and therefore suggest involvement in match-fixing activities are reminiscent of statements made by Trabzonspor Chairman Şener. Şener and other Trabzonspor managers in the courtroom responded to Yıldırım's remarks with laughter.

Meanwhile, Trabzonspor Deputy Chairman Nevzat Şakar, also a suspect in the case, gave a statement to the court, stating that he was innocent.