Besiktas’ constant presence in the spotlight of fame, for all the wrong reasons, continues. This time they are in trouble for their jerseys and on another, unrelated case a former player of the team wants the club president’s car.
Let’s start from the most recent case. Besiktas is playing an away game in Czech Republic, at 6PM CET tonight, but there is a little problem. Due to a mistake by the airport staff, the luggage with the team’s jerseys were not loaded to the plane.
So what’s more reasonable and easier than just walking into a sports store and buy some jerseys and shorts, right? Wrong, FIBA was rumoured to of disallowed the Turkish side’s request. So the club ordered some new jerseys to be tailored, but the problem is they will be made in Prague, which is two hours distance from Pardubice, where the game will be played. Oh, and did we mention the game is less than five hours away?
With less than five hours to the tip-off everything is uncertain. There is another scenario, according to which, Besiktas will play wearing Pardubice’s away jerseys.
For what it’s worth, Turkish Airlines twitter account assured Ergin Ataman twitter account that they are doing their best so that the team gets their jerseys.
And if you think that’s the end of it… well it’s not. Yesterday, a former player of the club, Bekir Yarangume, confiscated some of the club’s properties via his lawyer, including the car used by Besitkas’ president Yildirim Demiroren. The club, who spends millions for flashy, but utterly useless, NBA players signings owes the player 260.000 TL, that’s about 112K euros in normal money my European readers.
If the debt is not settled soon, the car will be sold to pay the player. And as far as we know, he is not the only player expecting money from Besiktas. FIBA Arbitral Tribunal is thinking of creating an Istanbul branch, just to cater for the needs of players and agents suing Besiktas over contracts not honoured.
But that’s a usual story when it comes to basketball, in this part of the world, meaning Europe. According to TalkBasket sources inside Turkey, the club had made three players, including Yarangume, train individually in the middle of the summer as a means to pressure them to break their contracts without compensation.
Can you blame the club? They were merely trying to create roster room for Kobe. Yes, Kobe Bryant.
