Trabzonspor president Ertuğrul Doğan defended himself against allegations of involvement in betting-related incidents.
The Turkish Football Federation announced that several officials and individuals affiliated with Trabzonspor, including Ertuğrul Doğan, have been referred to the Disciplinary Committee due to their alleged involvement in betting-related matters.
Statements by the Trabzonspor President
Ertuğrul Doğan, president of the Turkish club Trabzonspor, made several statements on "A Spor" channel, beginning with: "I am a straightforward person, everyone knows me, this is my ninth year in administrative work."
The Trabzonspor president added: "Such issues had not arisen before. The Turkish Football Federation used to provide awareness regarding these matters previously, but it did not raise awareness among administrators."
He continued: "There is no intent or anything of the sort. There are former and current colleagues in the administration involved in this case, all of whom are respectable and ethical people, and I vouch for the integrity of each one of them."
He went on: "We have discussed this matter before and provided the necessary information to the relevant authorities. I had an account that was closed earlier. These companies were sponsoring clubs, and events were held to launch those partnerships."
He completed: "No one expected a problem to arise because of this, but the Turkish Football Federation viewed the matter in this way. If we committed an error, we ask for forgiveness, but we did not commit any mistake."
He added: "A person with bad intentions would not open an official account and conduct such activities through it. There must be good in what is happening; let this be a lesson for everyone, including us. We do not want to believe that the Turkish Football Federation is acting with bad intentions."
He further stated: "We also bear part of the blame; we should have read those procedures more carefully. I wish we had not been preoccupied with such a case."
He concluded his remarks: "We will continue speaking in defense of Trabzonspor's interests and the interests of Turkish football, and we will not retreat even by a centimeter."
The board of directors of Trabzonspor, headed by Ertuğrul Doğan, had signed Mohamed Salah, the former Liverpool star, during the past summer transfer window.