City Football Group agree partnership with Erdogan-linked club
Manchester City’s owners have added Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir, which has links to the country’s autocratic president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to their growing network of clubs.
The collaboration will see City Football Group provide “consultancy” to Istanbul Basaksehir in areas such as transfers, training and youth development.
Istanbul Basaksehir was only founded in 1990 and changed its name and branding when it was promoted to the Turkish Super Lig in 2014.
Club president Goksel Gumusdag has family connections to President Erdogan and has worked with his Justice and Development Party (AKP), while the team’s colours also reflect those of the ruling political party.
CFG owns or part-owns 12 clubs, plus one official “partner club”, making it the largest multi-club group in the sport. It is the majority owner of nine teams including European champions City, Brazil’s Bahia and US franchise New York City, while it is the biggest single owner of Girona. Club Bolivar in Bolivia is a designated “partner club” to CFG, meaning it collaborates across all areas of the business.
Istanbul Basaksehir will only receive consultancy on football matters from CFG, it is understood.
City Football Group managing director Brian Marwood said: “We are very proud of the unique expertise and experience we have within City Football Group and look forward to working with Istanbul Basaksehir to support the growth of football in Turkey.”
Gumusdag said the process had been “long” and “intense”.
“Istanbul Basaksehir FK, which has achieved many firsts in Turkish football despite its young age, today took a historical step and achieved another first for both itself and Turkish football,” he added.
“From the beginning, we have reiterated at every opportunity that our vision and goals are different, and today, we underlined this again with this cooperation with the world’s largest football group.”
Istanbul Basaksehir have only made the Champions League once in the 2020/21 season, claiming their first ever Turkish Super Lig in the season before. Their only win in the European competition came against Manchester United behind closed doors due to the pandemic.
Former Chelsea man Demba Ba and Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ player Gael Clichy are among those to have played for the club.