Beyond the Headlines Is the Turkish President meddling in football?
Jun 17, 2021
21:33
Like millions in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a football fan. Before he became the country’s leader, he was a semi-professional player.
He publicly backs a small Istanbul team - which won the country’s super league in 2020 - and was the best man at the wedding of Mesut Özil, the German national team footballer who is of Turkish heritage. Mr Erdogan’s love of the game and his close ties to certain clubs and the national team is wrankling with some fans who say the president is politicising a once national-unifier. As the country competes in the delayed Euro 2020 finals, some are even saying the president has made them switch off completely.
On this week's Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines Young asks: is the Turkish President politicising football?
He publicly backs a small Istanbul team - which won the country’s super league in 2020 - and was the best man at the wedding of Mesut Özil, the German national team footballer who is of Turkish heritage. Mr Erdogan’s love of the game and his close ties to certain clubs and the national team is wrankling with some fans who say the president is politicising a once national-unifier. As the country competes in the delayed Euro 2020 finals, some are even saying the president has made them switch off completely.
On this week's Beyond the Headlines, host James Haines Young asks: is the Turkish President politicising football?