UEFA PRESIDENT VISITS TURKISH STADIUM AHEAD OF UEFA CUP FINAL

Platinini in Sukru Saracoglu Stadium In Istanbul,Turkey with TFF President and Fenerbahce President(Picture courtesy of TFF)

The head of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) visited on Thursday a Turkish stadium ahead of UEFA Cup final.

UEFA President Michel Platini visited the Fenerbahce Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul, which will host the UEFA Cup final, in May.

Platini will later attend a ceremony at the Esma Sultan Mansion in which representatives of the Zenit team of Russia, which won the cup last year, will hand over the trophy to Turkish executives.

The UEFA Cup final will take place at the Fenerbahce Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on May 20.

Michel Platini warns against match-fixing

UEFA resident Michel Platini reiterated Thursday that combatting match-fixing was his organization's top priority.

"The greatest danger to football is match-fixing," Platini said. "UEFA is investing a lot to combat match-fixing. Platini also defended a ruling that banned Macedonian club FK Pobeda from European competitions for eight years for rigging the outcome of a Champions League qualifier.

"It is a clear message that all those who are implicated in match-fixing and illegal betting will not be playing again," he said. "This was done to safeguard football."

Platini was speaking at a news conference following a ceremony in which last season's champion Zenit St. Petersburg handed over the UEFA Cup trophy ahead of the May 20 final to be played in Istanbul.

Two teams from Ukraine - Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donestsk - and two German teams - Werder Bremen and Hamburg - are in the running for the title.

It is the last time the competition is held under the UEFA Cup name and format. Next season the tournament will be renamed the Europa League.

Platini also restated that he favours a system whereby a referee can stop a game completely if fans chant racial slurs toward a player.

Platini said a referee would suspend the game for 10 minutes as a warning and end the game if racial abuse continues.

"A match is nothing compared to the seriousness of racism," Platini said.


Source: Turkish and other news wires

DESPITE THE LOSS BESIKTAS IN THE FORTIS TURKISH CUP FINALS

WATCH BESIKTAS V ANKARASPOR HIGHLIGHTS HERE.....
BESIKTAS 1 -2 ANKARASPOR
After winning the first match 3-1 in Ankara Besiktas qualified for the finals in Fortis Turkish Cup despite a 2-1 defeat at home . Ankaraspor went for the victory from the start.In the twenty-two minutes of the match, they went ahead on the scoreboard with Gabonese Roguy Meye goal, But the Slovak Filip Holosko tied to the half hour.

Ankaraspor's Omer Aysan Baris scored the 1-2 in the absence of nine minutes for the closure. And despite their final thrust failed to mark the third. Besiktas, which accumulates seven Cup titles, the last two years ago and has six other disputed final will face Fenerbahce in the finals. Besiktas and Fenerbahce will face in the final game on May 7th in Bursa, Turkey.

In the 47-year history of Turkey Cup final, Besiktas played 13 times, 7 times the cup was taken to a museum. the most recent one was at 2006-2007 season.


AHMET TURGUT

Fenerbahce Reaches The Fortis Turkish Cup Finals

After having disaster year in the Turkcell Super League, Fenerbahce fans finally have something good to talk about their team.

Fenerbahce just advanced to the Fortis Turkish Cup Finals after going scoreless in Sivas against League's top team Sivasspor in the second leg match.

In the First leg match in Istanbul, Fenerbahce beat Sivasspor with a huge score 3-1.

A draw was good for them to advance to the finals.

Fenerbahce, seeking their fifth Cup title, a tournament that they reluctant to win since 1983. Fenerbahce will face the winner of the other semifinal, between Besiktas and Ankaraspor , most likely it will be Besiktas.
Besiktas accumulate seven Cup trophies, most recently two years ago, Furthermore, They played in six other finals.

AHMET TURGUT

TURKISH FORTIS CUP SEMI-FINAL SECOND LEG MATCHES

The Fortis Turkish Cup , starts with the Sivasspor-Fenerbahce match on Tuesday. Sivas will try to overcome a 3-1 deficit from the first leg math when they host Fenerbahce in Sivas, Fenerbahce's only hope is now, Turkish Fortis Cup.

On Wednesday, Besiktas will host Ankaraspor in Istanbul.

Besiktas Missed The Chance To Move On Top

Ten man Besiktas team just could not pass Bursaspor on Sunday night in Istanbul.

The scene was all there, with their 12th man , who did not stop chanting, until last minutes of th match.

In the last game of the week 28 in Turkish Turkcell Super League, Besiktas was hopeful of taking over the lead position. After all, Sivasspor, had lost 2 points on Saturday.

Besiktas was troubled by the dismissal of Ibrahim Toraman. With their defensive star red carded, Besiktas had to play the second half with 10 players.

The scoreless draw kept Besiktas at the second position.

GALATASARAY ON THE MOVE!

Well, although they won the match againstIstanbul B.B, with one goal, Galatasaray did not play good football!..

But, Galatasaray had their hopes of a championship title is on the line again by a 1-0 victory against İstanbul BB. Galatasaray's only goal came at 66th minute when Nonda passed the ball to Milan Baros who was left all along by him self in the far corner,did the easy thing, score the Galatasaray's only goal.

Galatasaray player,Lincoln, played full ninety minutes of this match.

Also on Sunday ,Denizlispor beat Kocaelispor 2-1 and pretty much killed Kocaelispor's hope to stay in the league.

Antalyaspor after beating league's though team Kayserispor at home 2-1 , took a deep breath.....

Ankaragucu after winning against Eskisehirspor 3-2. still fighting for their life in the league .

League's last place team draw Gaziantep in Gaziantep, 0-0.

So, At the end of the 28th week, in the Turkish Super League, we know two things, for sure.

Kocaelispor and Hacettepe will go down to lower division......

And we know, Fenerbahce team who was in the quarter finals of the Champions League last year, will not be in the race, for the Turkish Championship, this season!

Those are pretty much facts, now....

What is unknown, is, who will be the third team,that will bite the dust, in the league.

Is it going to be, Ankaragucu,Istanbul B.B,Konyaspor,Denizlispor or Genclerbirligi!..

And finally, after both of the top team losing points this weekend, it is very difficult to say who will be the Champions of Turkey this season..

We know one thing , Sivasspor on top 57 points and Besiktas is breading on their shoulder with 56 points on second place.

After Trabzon winning this weekend , they are only 4 points behind Sivasspor and 3 points away from Besiktas.

And Hopeful Galatasaray, is on fourth with 51 points...

Although, Galatasaray, might seem a far away from top but, they still have games against Sivasspor and Trabzonspor.

So, If Galatasaray shapes up, and The rookie coach Bulent Korkmaz, start thinking like a champion coach, they might have a sure shot at the top!.....

Lastly, next two weekends will be very crutual for Turkish Super League Leader Sivasspor.

This weekend They will face Trabzonspor at their home field and following weekend they will travel to Gaziantepspor .

And let's not the last match of the season against Galatasaray in Istanbul.

So, Sivasspor will face some hurdles, on the way!...


STANDINGS

Position Team Wins Points
1 Sivasspor 16 57
2 Beşiktaş 16 56
3 Trabzonspor 15 53
4 Galatasaray 15 51
5 Fenerbahçe 14 48
6 Bursaspor 12 45
7 Kayserispor 10 40
8 Ankaraspor 11 39
9 Gaziantepspor 10 39
10 Antalyaspor 9 35
11 Eskişehirspor 8 33
12 Gençlerbirliği 8 32
13 Denizlispor 9 32
14 Konyaspor 8 31
15 MKE Ankaragücü 8 30
16 Büyükş Bld.Spor 8 30
17 Kocaelispor 6 23
18 Hacettepe 3 16



AHMET TURGUT

Could Besiktas Capture The Top Spot In Turkish Super League?.

After Sivasspor was held by Konyaspor in Konya to a scoreless draw , Besiktas has a chance to capture the Turkish Turkcell Super League top spot if they win against Bursaspor on Sunday night in Istanbul.

Turkcell Super League 28th week started with Trabzonspor against Genclerbirlgi on Friday and Tranbzonspor after beating Genclerbirligi with two unanswered goals.

With this win Trabzonspor stayed in the race for the top spot.

SATURDAY WRAP:

There was only two matches on Saturday in The Turkish Turkcell Super League.

In the early match in Konya, League Leader Sivasspor had a Konya obstacle in their plate and they knew that!..

Because, Konyaspor was desperate for points to get out of the danger zone of the league.

And They respected the Konyaspor coach Giray Bulak, they new he would have his team ready against them.

In the ninety minutes of the they were some hits and misses on both goals...

Sivasspor's two shots came of the wood works...

Konyaspor also had a lot of chance in the second half but could not cash in.

At the end both of the teams were not happy with results.
Konysaspor wanted a three points to reach 33 point mark . On the other hand Sivasspor

lost momentum from their bid to Turkish Championship, in my opinion.

Ever since Sivasspor Benched Balili, Sivaspor is not the Sivasspor we watched in the first half of the season.

I think , Balili and Mehmet Yildiz, up front, clicked more better in my opinion.

If Sivaspor keeps losing point like this they might even end up losing the second place .

This should be a wake up call for Sivasspor.

Because, at the end of this weekend , they might lose the topp spot to Besiktas than
they still have to face Trabzonspor and Galatasaray yet, in the League.

That is why , crucial weeks start for Sivasspor after this weekend

WHAT IS HAPPENING TO FENERBAHCE?....

This is the question that every Fenerbahce fans are asking them self's..

What Happened to the team that played in last year's quarter final, in the UEFA Champions League!

Well, Fenerbahce on Saturday in Ankara, went down again one more time.

This time against Ankaraspor .

The former Fenerbahce legend player Aykut Kocaman, who coaches Ankaraspor, beat his former team.

Fenerbahce was missing Alex, Semih, Edu, Lugano and goalkeeper Volkan.

This was the must win match for Fenerbahce in order to continue its chance to catch up the other teams on top.

Fenerbahce is nine points behind the current leader Sivasspor with 48 points.

If Fenerbahce does not win their all six reaming matches in The league ,they could well be left out of European competition next season.

That would be a disaster for Fenerbahce Fans...

I Think, Fenerbahce President made a huge mistake when he let go Brazilian great Zico, after he took Fenerbahce to Champions League quarter finals.

This is a perfect sample about Turkish Football in general!..

Constancy, is the big problem with Turkish Football...

We could say this, about Turkish National Team and Fatih Terim...

We could say this, about Galatasaray team who won the UEFA cup...

And now, we could say this about Fenerbahce.......

SUNDAY SHOW DOWN ..................

The match of the week will be between Besiktas nad Bursaspor in Istanbul, in my opinion.


After watching , Sivasspor losing points, Besiktas will be more focused in this match.

But, Bursaspor is not easy team to beat, though!

As a matter of fact,they are coached by Former Besiktas coach Ertugrul Saglam, who earlier in the season coached Besiktas.

He knows the Besiktas team well....

But,I am sure Besiktas coach will have a couple of his tricks against Bursaspor as well.

A win, will fly Besiktas, to first place but, a draw won't!...


Also on Sundays, there are many games that will effect the bottom of the barrel.

The teams are feeling the heat will play against the team who are in relegation zone.

Denizlispor who has 29 points will be against the team who has 23 points Kocaelispor.

Eskisehirspor will play against Ankaragucu ......

Ankaragucu has 27 points and Eskisehirspor has 33.

The team with 32 points Antalyaspor will be at home against the team is chasing Bursaspor, Kayserispor.

Istanbul B.B who is also feeling the heat with 30 points will face Galatasaray.

This is a must match for both team.
If Galatasaray wants to remain in the chase , they have to win
On the other hand , it is a must win match for Istanbul B.B, if they don't want to face the relegation.

Lastly, the team who is in the comfort zone, Gaziantepspor, will face the helpless, last place team Hacettepe, who is definite will go down at the end of the season.

AHMET TURGUT

THE "BAD BOYS" IN UGLY ISTANBUL DERBY PUNISHED BY TFF

Lugano's headbutt to Emre Asik (Photo from Maraton football TV program in Turkey)

Galatasaray and Fenerbahce interact in the final minutes of their Turkey Super League derby match that ended in a 0-0 draw at the Ali Sami Yen stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, April 12, 2009.(AP Photo/Ibrahim Usta)


The Verdict is in for the ugly match that happened last weekend.

The Turkish Football Federation's Discipline committee came down hard and handed the suspensions

Here are the suspensions.


Diego Lugano : 5 matches from Fenerbahce
Semih Senturk: 3 matches from Fenerbahce
Volkan Demirel: 3 matches from Fenerbahce

Arda Turan: 3 matches from Galatasaray

Emre Asik: 2 matches from Galatasaray

Sabri Sarioglu: 2 matches from Galatasaray

Galatasaray team president Adnan Polat was also suspended 45 days from Galatasaray matches and Galatasaray team will play one match without spectator and Galatasaray one home match will be played in out side of Istanbul.