Reconciliation at Besiktas: The strange affair of the missing plank; more muddied pools; minibus superstar; whole lotta breast-beating going on; an entire volleyball team; a man called Pollen; Coming Soon: WaterworldBy Keith N. Dearn / Turkish Daily News Antalya- So, after his much-publicized row with the Besiktas board, Sergen Yalcin has been reinstated. Funny, but all this happened without his missing a single match. Sergen is back in the first team squad but the fine of TL 30 billion the club imposed

Goal feast: A 4-3 defeat for Fenerbahce means Besiktas is confirmed in second place, five points behind struggling League leader Galatasaray Turkish Daily News Antalya- The Turkish Soccer League has seen some strange matches in its history but surely few stranger than the one in Trabzon on Sunday evening. This finished in 4-3 victory for the host, dropping Fenerbahce back to third spot in Division One behind Besiktas, which had already won on Saturday. If we tell you that Trabzon's Black Sea Storm

Comfortable: Black Eagles coast to a commanding 5-1 victory with 2 goals from man-of-the-moment Sergen Turkish Daily News Antalya- Besiktas spanked Gaziantepspor 5-1 on Saturday evening to move back into second place in Soccer League Division One ahead of yesterday's Trabzonspor-Fenerbahce grudge match. That one was still under way as the TDN went to press and will be reported, along with the rest of the Sunday program, tomorrow. Gaziantep went to Istanbul's Inonu Stadium still without Ayhan Akman, at

Vural's last chance: Trabzon coach knows the league title is definitely gone if his side does not take three points; Fener must win, too, to sustain challenge as leader Galatasaray appears to have it easy Turkish Daily News Antalya- There are seven matches on soccer's Division Card today, but most eyes will be on just one of them, that in Trabzon where the visitor is second-placed Fenerbahce. Leader Galatasaray, three points clear at the top, has an apparently easy task at home to Altay from Izmir, a

Fears groundless: Worries about crowd trouble, especially after The Hague killings, prove unfounded as the supporters in the stadium concentrate on backing their team Historic victory: Group Seven leader Holland drops its first points of the campaign as Turkey overturns one of Europe's strongest teams to move within shooting distance of second-placed Belgium Two moments: Clarence Seedorf misses, Hakan Sukur doesn't: enough to make the crucial difference between the two sides Taking to the streets: As

Pressure: Belgium's victory in Wales dramatically shifts the balance of power as Turkey seeks three points in Bursa against one of Europe's strongest sides Turkish Daily News Antalya- Turkey goes into its latest World Cup qualifying Group Seven match in Bursa this evening knowing that victory by Belgium in Wales on Saturday has turned the pressure up another several notches. Defeat here for Turkey would leave it five points behind Belgium with the same number of matches played, a massive 11 behind the

'Cruisin' along in my automobile, My baby beside me at the wheel. Just cruisin' and playin' the radio, With no particular place to go' - Chuck BerryBy Keith N. Dearn / Turkish Daily News Ahead of Wednesday's Turkey-Holland World Cup European Group Seven qualifier, there was no domestic First Division soccer last week, and what a relief that has been! Instead we've been able to concentrate on basketball, and with Tofas crushing Aris in the Korac Cup final and Efes Pilsen moving inexorably closer to the

Excerpts from the Turkish sports media: Now the summit is basketball's This piece by Cemal Ersen in MILLIYET speaks for itself: "Compared to our clubs which cannot even succeed in reaching a quarterfinal despite astronomical investments in soccer, our basketball players are signing their names to new successes with every passing day and have reached the European summit. Beside Efes Pilsen, which has come very close to the European Super League Final Four, and Tofas, which has taken a big advantage

L'Affaire Sergen: Kerfuffle at Besiktas obscures a central issue -- the role of soccer directorsBy Keith N. Dearn / Turkish Daily News Antalya- The Sergen Yalcin affair has been heavily preoccupying the Turkish media just lately, as might have been expected. To recap, the star Besiktas midfield player has been fined TL 30 billion, kicked off the first team squad and transfer-listed as a result of remarks he made publicly against club vice-chairman Ugur Eksioglu. To date there has been a mad rush in the

Terminated with extreme prejudice: Star midfielder fined TL 30 billion, left off the squad and transfer-listedBy Keith N. Dearn / Turkish Daily News Antalya- Turkish soccer was rocked by another major upheaval on Wednesday as giant Istanbul club Besiktas announced that its star midfield player Sergen Yalcin had been fined TL 30 billion, left off the first team squad indefinitely and was to be transferred at the end of the season. This follows a long history of controversy over Sergen -- not concerning

Terminated with extreme prejudice: Star midfielder fined TL 30 billion, left off the squad and transfer-listedBy Keith N. Dearn / Turkish Daily News Antalya- Turkish soccer was rocked by another major upheaval on Wednesday as giant Istanbul club Besiktas announced that its star midfield player Sergen Yalcin had been fined TL 30 billion, left off the first team squad indefinitely and was to be transferred at the end of the season. This follows a long history of controversy over Sergen -- not concerning

The pits: Besiktas produces worst performance of the season to lose 4-1 in Samsun Sergen Yalcin: After leading the march of the Samsun sleepwalkers, Besiktas' 'superstar' playmaker finds no favor with national team coach Mustafa Denizli Key changes: Coach makes innovations as Turkey prepares for World Cup qualifier against HollandBy Keith N. Dearn There's an old story about a bunch of Liverpool council workers who accidentally gassed an old lady's budgerigar while carrying out repair work in her kitchen.

Strength in depth: Can basketball teams still function without star players? Is Turkey really interested in archery? Or volleyball? Does anybody want a massage instrument from the Far East? And what is the difference between a caterpillar and a crocodile?By Keith N. Dearn / Turkish Daily News Antalya- For a change this week, let's stay away from soccer, at least to begin with. There has been some controversy lately over whether top Turkish basketball team Efes Pilsen can function without its playmaker

Excerpts from Turkish sports dailies We don't need Ali Sen Controversial Fenerbahce Chairman Ali Sen has been in the news again, this time for alleging that his own club's Infrastructure Association and its match guests, former players Oguz Cetin and Aykut Kocaman, were pleased by Fener's recent defeat against Galatasaray. Here is part of Aykut's response, given during an interview with YENI YUZYIL's Altan Tanrikulu: "Such a thing certainly did not happen. I find this type of claim highly comical.

Eighth place: With Turkey and Greece bracketed together in UEFA's rankings listing, European soccer's governing body now has to come up with a tie-break system to determine which country gets extra places in international tournaments Turkish Daily News Antalya- Paris St. Germain may, without knowing it, have done Turkey an enormous favor by beating AEK Athens 3-0 in soccer's European Cupwinners' Cup quarterfinal action last Thursday. Any result other than a PSG victory would have meant Greece edging

Title, relegation, Inter Toto: Besiktas faces a tricky task in Samsun; can Denizli doom Zeytinburnuspor, and can Canakkale Dardanel ease its own fears of the drop? Sorry Trabzon: Out of title race and held 1-1 at home by Kocaeli in Turkish Cup final first leg in midweek, Yilmaz Vural's side needs to pick itself up, dust itself off and start all over again Turkish Daily News Antalya- The seven matches in Soccer League Division One today have a bearing on all 3 of the outstanding issues -- the destination

Santa comes late: In a match played in atrocious conditions caused by a blizzard, this 1-1 draw means Trabzon has gifted Kocaelispor a precious chance of lifting the trophy Turkish Daily News Antalya- Father Christmas came late to Kocaelispor on Wednesday evening. In its Cup Final first leg played at Trabzon's Huseyin Avni Aker Stadium a blizzard before the game resulted in a pitch more suitable for reindeer than soccer players and the Kocaeli side was left laughing all the way home as it was gifted

Violence rules, KO: Riot in Rize; battle in Bursa; (loss of) power to the PTT; Erika's erotic aerobics; good heavens, another week gone...By Keith N. Dearn / Turkish Daily News Antalya - Followers of the battle over TV soccer rights will be interested to hear that the Ankara 19th Court of First Instance last week reversed its earlier decision allowing clubs to sell same to whichever TV channel they wanted and effectively reinstated the Soccer Federation's exclusive pool arrangement with Cine 5. The

Do or die: Virtually out of the League race, the Black Sea Storm needs to take the Cup to rescue its season but faces redoubtable opposition in Kocaeli Turkish Daily News Antalya- Following its shock home defeat by Istanbulspor on Saturday, Trabzonspor is all but out of the race for the League title which means that its first leg Turkish Cup battle with Kocaelispor tonight becomes the most important game it has faced so far this season. Trabzon has to take this trophy if it is not to finish up with

Okocha enigma: If the Nigerian midfielder could reproduce this form all the time, Fenerbahce might be ahead by a street instead of clinging on to third place Turkish Daily News Antalya- One moment of brilliance from Nigerian midfield star Augustine "Jay Jay" Okocha on 82 minutes was enough to break the stalemate and take the points for Fenerbahce in its crunch match in Bursa. Just as everybody thought Sunday evening's Soccer League Division One fixture was going to finish the way it had