Fenerbahçe at the Ballot Box: Yıldırım and Safi Face to Face

A historic day began on Saturday morning in Kadıköy, Istanbul. Fenerbahçe Sports Club's Extraordinary Election General Assembly opened on the former Kenan Evren High School site adjacent to the Chobani Stadium Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Sports Complex. In the congress, which is expected to be one of the highest-attended elections in the club's history, 44,741 members have voting rights. The general assembly started under the management of Divan Council President Şekip Mosturoğlu at 10:00 on Saturday morning.

Tense moments were experienced between congress members and management on the first day. After the opening, the board of directors' activity reports and audit board reports regarding two separate financial periods covering June 1, 2025-September 21, 2025 and September 22, 2025-February 28, 2026 of the club were read. The total debt table was also announced at the congress. Subsequently, voting for the discharge of the current period managements was held. The first day of the programme continued with the candidates speaking to fans from the podium.

The first of the candidates is Aziz Yıldırım. Yıldırım, who served as Fenerbahçe president continuously for 20 years from 1998 to 2018, the club's 32nd president, also stood as a candidate in the 2018 and 2024 elections, losing both times. The experienced administrator, who officially announced his candidacy on May 6, 2026 this time, ran his campaign with the slogan "Our Fenerbahçe". In Yıldırım's board of directors principal list are Barış Göktürk, Mahmut Nedim Uslu, Nihat Özbağı, Mustafa Çağlar, Ahmet Önder Fırat, Cihan Kamer, Fatih Öztürk, Batuhan Özdemir, Tanju Kaya, Ahmet Murat İman, Özgür Peker, Yusuf Buğra Tanık, Mehmet Aydın and Mehmet Selim Kosif.

The candidate on the other side is Hakan Safi. Safi, known for his successful identity in the business world and who served as a member of the Fenerbahçe board of directors during the Ali Koç era, emphasised that he offered "a new generation management vision that will carry the club to the future". The Hakan Safi side also strongly worked on the transfer project before the election: it was announced that an agreement in principle was reached with Merih Demiral, it was stated that an official offer was made to Robert Lewandowski, who left Barcelona, and the news came that a personal agreement was reached with Sporting's Colombian striker Luis Suárez. On Safi's board of directors principal list are Ali Aytemiz, Metin Doğan, Agah Ruşen Çetin, Metin Sipahioğlu, Dağlarca Çağlar, Rahmi Mertay Türk, Mustafa Ömer Topbaş, Özgür Özaktaç, Mehmet Atakan Altınbaş, Orhan Turan, Selahattin Süleymanoğlu, Ogün Doğan, Şanser Özyıldırım and Taha Gökberk Doğan.

The main election vote will be held on Sunday. The voting process will start at 10:00 and end at 17:00; afterwards the vote count will begin and the results are expected to be clear around 19:00. The new president, who will be determined on Sunday night, will be responsible for both the sporting and financial future of Fenerbahçe celebrating its 120th anniversary and for the transfer moves in the calendar entering the Champions League preliminary rounds. The tightness of the 2026 World Cup and Champions League preliminary round programme leaves the new management's manoeuvring space limited — therefore both candidates had wanted the election to be brought forward rather than postponed. The result to be announced on Sunday evening in Kadıköy will give direction to the upcoming years of the yellow-and-blue community.

Image: fenerbahce.org