Restriction on foreigners may be lifted for European players

Speaking to Today’s Zaman, Ulusoy made important statements before the assembly’s convention. With regard to the popular discussion on the restrictions on foreign players, Ulusoy stressed that lifting the restriction without leaving any criteria to determine the permissible number of foreign players was impossible. Recalling that the FIFA has been working on a generally plausible number for two years, Ulusoy said the local federations were also requested to contribute to the discussion. He added: “FIFA’s preliminary works envisage six alien and five native players on the field [during domestic games]. The initial study also requires two benched players come from the youth team. A foreign player will have to be substituted by another foreigner. However there will be no restrictions in the international games.”

‘Only election removes me from the office’

Asserting that his struggle was about autonomy not the seat, Ulusoy said: “A democratic election was held in the previous assembly. There is a federation elected for a four-year term. What happened to cause an early election? Is there any proven corruption? The latest inspection report is positive. Opponents say Ulusoy should not be chairman. Why? What we want is that nobody should put pressure the choice of chairman. Who does not want me as the chairman? Somebody from outside… We will not have another election simply because some outsiders want us to do so. Who governs the TFF? [Ankara Mayor] Melih Gökçek or [Galatasaray Chairman] Özhan Canaydın?” Ulusoy’s questions underline the tension between internal and external influences on Turkish soccer.

“Those who want an election are not even delegates. If the delegates want me to leave, I will not stay for a single moment. However I will stand against pressure and coercion. We are not fighting for our seats; I am struggling to preserve the autonomy of the federation. I was going to ask the delegations at the General Assembly on Financial Issues whether they wanted an election and if they would have expressed such a demand, I was going to leave the post. But they did not act in accordance with my request. They tried to collect signatures and further resorted to court action…I was elected by the General Assembly election and will go by the same procedure.”

Recalling that they prepared a six-article package in relation to the amendments requested by FIFA of the Soccer Federation Law and submitted the package for ratification, Ulusoy said: “You may already know that these are the appointments of the Board of Arbitration, lifting the powers of the minister to supervise and monitor under Article 31, establishment of an inspection board instead, lifting the restrictions on the term of the chairman and creation of the conflict resolution board. The package was approved by FIFA. We will refer it to the administration for ratification.”

Asserting that a number of conspiracy theories have been fabricated throughout the season, Ulusoy noted: “Some said Fenerbahçe would not win the title. However it did. Some others alleged that we would block the qualification of Kasımpaşa and İstanbul Büyükşehir to the Turkcell Super League; but they qualified. Furthermore all of the clubs that I have worked for in the past descended to a lower division. So how am I influential? This indicates the invalidity of the conspiracy theories.” Underlining that all TFF boards will be reviewed, Ulusoy noted that they would undergo a thorough investigation to reveal any mistakes committed, with the exception of the arbitration board.