Von James M. Dorsey
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s illiberal policies have targeted the media, the judiciary, the police, militant soccer fans, and anti-government protesters. Now they threaten to claim yet another victim: the game of football itself.
Tayip Recep Erdogan helps carry the coffin of Ulker founder Sabri Ulker to its final resting place in 2012
In a major blow to troubled Turkish soccer, Yildiz Holding, a conservative conglomerate known for its confectionary and biscuit business and close ties to Mr. Erdogan that is one of Turkey’s largest sponsors of soccer, said in a letter to the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) that it would no longer fund the sport because of violence and tensions associated with it and government efforts to politically control the beautiful game.
The company’s reference to tensions was not simply a reference to stadium incidents but also to Mr. Erdogan’s interference in a match-fixing scandal, attempts to depoliticize stadia, and legal proceedings against members of Carsi, the militant support group of storied Istanbul club Besiktas JK.
Continue reading “Turkish soccer: Illiberal President Erdogan’s latest victim”
Das Spruchband der Ultras Dynamo beim Spiel gegen Köln. Bild: Faszination Fankurve
