Harun Erdenay, who was nominated for the presidency at the ordinary general assembly of the Turkish Basketball Federation to be held on November 4, said that he is a candidate to bring Turkish basketball to a better place.
In his statement to the AA correspondent, Erdenay stated that he has devoted himself to basketball for many years, and that he set out on this path to bring this sport to the place it deserves in Turkey.
Explaining that they came to the last part of the election campaign, Erdenay said, “We set out with the promise that we will touch all the delegates, listen to everyone’s problems and tell them about our projects. We have visited 90 percent of the delegates so far. We will complete our entire tour by visiting the city and enter the election ready.” he said.
Emphasizing that the delegates approached them positively, Erdenay said, “They approach my candidacy positively. I am someone who comes into basketball. I played for many years and worked as a manager. I served as vice president and president. I was a board member in FIBA for 5 years.” he said.
Regarding the demands of the delegates, Erdenay said:
“Every league has its own problems. There are super leagues, there are TBLs, there are regional leagues. They express their problems about them. We say what solutions we have for them. General complaints are that the income is low, but in recent years, there are participation shares, license fees. “Whether there are penalties or fines, they report that these are very high. There was also the complaint of not being able to find a contact in the federation. All the delegates received complaints about this, and we explained our solutions.”
– “I find the national team unsuccessful in the last 5 years”
Erdenay said, “It is a fact that Turkish basketball has been on the decline in the last 5 years, especially at the level of national teams,” and continued as follows:
“I’m not saying this. There is a serious decrease in both men and women in FIBA’s ranking. There is a decrease from sixth, seventh to 19th place. There has been no success in youth teams recently. Our women’s national team, which reached the quarter-finals in the Olympics in 2016, even won in the last European championships. The last medals in the youth teams came in 2015-2016. Except for the European success of one or two teams in the leagues, Turkish basketball has not had any success in the last five years, it has a decline.”
Noting that there have been tournaments in which Turkish basketball has been successful from time to time, Erdenay said, “When we look at the last 5 years, our men’s national team, which played the Olympics at the last minute as the 22nd in the world, could not get what it wanted in the tournament where a team like the Czech Republic went to the Olympics. We have a straight down position in the world rankings. I find the national team unsuccessful every year.” made its assessment.
Reminding that three candidates participated in the election, Erdenay said, “All three candidates have made their mark as basketball players in their own time and served for national teams. It will be a good competition for basketball. Basketball will be the winner. Compared to other federations, the election in the Turkish Basketball Federation will attract attention.” used the phrases.
Answering the question about what his most important project would be if he became the president, Erdenay said:
“We will bring the regional league back to life. The absence of a regional league has dealt a serious blow to Anatolian basketball. Basketball schools have shrunk, they need to be brought to life. 12 Giant Men Basketball Schools reached 2,400 people in 42 cities in 2016. Now it has become very small. Basketball players were found and given to the teams from there. In this way, many players were brought to the national team. With this structure, people in the farthest corners of Anatolia were given the opportunity to play basketball. 82 teams were competing in the regional league. The teams in the east had a chance to play in their own league. If there is no league, a team in Batman will play with itself. When you create groups, these teams had the chance to play in their own leagues, we will implement them.”
“I believe I will win”
Erdenay, who also shared his message to the community, said, “The president will be elected for 3 years. The current president has been in office for 5 years. Erman brother came from France and became a candidate. All the delegates will gather and decide who will govern better. I believe I will win.” he said.
Erdenay, on the question of what the first works would be if he became the president, said:
“First of all, there will be matches of the national teams very soon. We will play in the World Championship qualifying group. That will be our primary goal. The leagues have started. We will work to reduce the expenses of the teams here. Later, we want to strengthen these leagues by bringing sponsors.”
Stating that he is someone who comes into basketball and has a lot of managerial experience, Erdenay said, “I believe my experience outweighs. Every delegate will vote for whoever he believes will move basketball forward when he goes to the polls. I wish success to our other candidates. May the best one win.” made its assessment.
Asked what he thought about the project to replace the Abdi İpekçi Sports Hall, Erdenay said, “It was demolished about 4 years ago, and unfortunately it hasn’t been used for 4 years. Our Ministry has a project there. We share our views with our Ministry.” she replied.
Erdenay, regarding his criticism of his work at the ITU Sports Club in the last 5 years, said, “I have been the president of the ITU Sports Club in 5 years. We are the club that serves a thousand athletes there as an amateur in 11 branches. I do not understand why the criticism came. We are a sports club that serves completely amateurishly. Going up. “We didn’t have a vision to play in the Super League. I don’t know why the criticism came.” used the phrases.
AA
