World Soccer - UK (2021-10)

One of hisfirst movesatDemispor
was to sign former Manchester United
midfiedeAnderson. TheChampions
Leaguewinnerma minimal impact,
retiing at theclublastSeptembe,
but thegauntethad beenaid down.
Lastseason, experiencedduo
Auelien Chedjouand Gokhan Inler
werebrought in,and thebar has
beenraisedevenhigherthissummer.
Aongside BaotelliisMoroccan
playmaeYones Behanda and
exTottenham Hotspurutility man
BenjaminStambouli.Other notable
additions includeNoway right-back
n Z), LucasCastro
Fati ri
on Mancheste

itlok ie a

haeno

TURKEY

themalonewon’t guaranteesuccess,”

saysDemirsporsupporterBoraUluturk.

“Especiallywith theirfiery histories;

theymightevenhinderthesquad

morethanhelpit.”

It’sbeen 11 yearssinceBalotelliwon

theGoldenBoyaward.Hispasttwo

seasonshaveconsistedof failingtokeep

BresciainSerieA, followed by notbeing

abletofireMonza into it.Lasttermhe

didn’tevenrankamongSerie B’stop

40 goalscorers.

Suchdelusionsofgrandeurwere

hardlyhelpedwhen thenotoriously

outspokenSancakannouncedthat

BalotellihadcometoDemirspor to

gotonextyear’sWorldCupin Qatar.

WiththeAzzurriwinningthe European

Championshipjustdaysafterthestriker’s

signing,you have to saythatlooks

fancifulatbest.

PerhapsDemirspor’stheory is thatby

pairingBalotelliwith hisoldteam-mate

Belhanda,theyearsmightrollback to

whenthe duofired Nicetothirdin

Ligue1 in 2 01 6- 17.

TheMoroccanplaymakerhasalso

arrivedona free,havingbeensacked

byGalatasaray in Marchforcriticising

thestateoftheirpitch.Hisdeparture

wasmetwith indifference by fans,many

ofwhomfeltBelhanda hadbeen

performingbelowparfor sometime.

Theimpact othersigningswill have is

alsosomethingofa mystery. Stambouli

is 31 andcomesinasdamagedgoods

onthe backofSchalke’srelegation.

MeanwhileSvenssonspentpart of

lastseasonout with a thighproblem.

Thebiggest quandary thoughishow

Demirsporhavemanagedtoaffordsuch

deals,especiallywith theTurkishliraat

itslowest-everrate.Balotellihas penned

a three-yeardealthroughto 2024 , by

whichpointhe’ll be nearly34.ADShad

alsobeenlinkedwithsigningDavidLuiz

ona€4 million,two-yeardeal,following

hisreleasebyArsenal.

Sancak’s closetiestopresidentRecep

TayyipErdoganandhisrulingAKP party

mayprovidea clueastohow theproject

isbeingfunded.

InJune,Mafiabossturned YouTube

whistle-blowerSedatPeker claimedthat

Erdogan’s son-in-law,BeratAlbayrak,

wasstayingatthe Demirsporpresident’s

house,awayfrompublicview after

resigningasfinanceminister.

Meanwhile,Sancak’scousinEthem

alsohasclosetiestoErdogan.Underhis

ownership,thenewspaperStarGazetesi

tooka strongpro-AKPline,while he

oncedeclaredhewas in “spirituallove”

withErdogan,andthathisentire family

wouldbesacrificedfor thepresident.

Bothcousinsarenowinvolvedwith

BMC,acarmanufacturerthathasalso

beentreated favourablybythe regime.

BMCwas granted23.7millionfeet

ofpublicland by Erdoganfor future

investment,andawardeda€9 billion

contracttomanufacture Turkey’sfirst

domestically-assembledtank.

“Itdefinitelysmellsveryfishy,”

UluturktellsWorldSoccer. “InTurkey

whensomethingseemstoogoodto be

true,there’susuallysomeshadinessor

corruptionbehindit.”

Demirsporfansdonotneed

remindingofsuchreality. In August

2010 , formerpresidentandlifelong

supporter BekirCinarcommitted

suicideafterhisdreamofreturning

DemirsportoSuperLigplunged

himinto heavydebt.

Onewayofavoidinganothersuch

tragedycouldbeDemirspor’snewYeni

AdanaStadium.Thiswasbuilt at acost

of 14 0 millionTLandishostingcrowds

forthefirsttimethisseason,having

openedinFebruary. Like many new

buildsinTurkey, it is ownedby thestate.

The 33 ,500-seaterstadium, which is

sharedwithbitter rivalsAdanaspor, offers

Demirsportheopportunitytogenerate

funds.Sancakhasannouncedthatan

executive boxwillcostaminimumof

5,000TL(approximately€490),in

linewith othertop SuperLigclubs.

Timewilltellif thisaloneisenough

topropupSancak’sDemirsporproject.

However, as a manwhonarrowlyescaped

anapparentassassinationattemptin

2015 , he doesn’tneedtobetoldlife

isfor living.

Whilstit is unclearwhere themoney

forsigningshascomefrom,themere

opportunitytoseeDemirsporback in

SuperLigissomethingtobecelebrated.

Whateverhappensoffthepitch,after

a quarterof a century away,fanscan

enjoytheirmomentbackin the

notoriouslyhotAdanasun.

Newboy...Sancak

welcomesLucas

Castrototheclub

Overthepast 15 seasons,Demirsporhavelostin

promotionplay-offsonnofewerthannineoccasions...

manysupportersbelievedtheirteamwascursed