Galatasaray risks demotion after suspension fraud

Galatasaray Café Crown risks being demoted from the Beko Basketball League after scheming to use a suspended player in two friendly matches.

Turkish center Cemal Nalga, who was suspended for five matches for involvement in a fight, played wearing teammate Tufan Ersöz’s jersey for two exhibition games against German teams Deutsche Bank Skyliner and EnBW Ludwigsburg in September during his ban. Galatasaray’s technical staff then sent Nalga’s statistics for the match report to the Turkish Basketball Federation under Ersöz’s name.

As a result, Nalga appeared to serve his five-match suspension in matches against Erdemirspor, Deutsche Bank Skyliners, EnBW Ludwigsburg, Istanbul Municipality and Yeşilyurt.

In an interview with daily Hürriyet, Nalga said: “I am only a player. I just did what I was told.”

Coach Okan Çevik said: “We had three players injured so we had to use Cemal. We knowingly did wrong.”

The scandal emerged after a complaint filed by Galatasaray’s Beko Basketball League rival Oyak Renault, who realized that the friendlies’ statistics were somewhat suspicious. Finally, late Wednesday the Turkish basketball Web site SalsaBasket (www.salsabasket.net) released pictures and a video showing Nalga in action during the German matches.

Turkish Basketball Federation regulations say documentation fraud by a club can result in suspensions or “demotion from the league and a fine of 10,000 Turkish Liras.”

After an emergency meeting following the news, all members Galatasaray Café Crown’s coaching staff were fired from the club.

“In some friendly matches played abroad, a Galatasaray player played under the identity of another player in a way contrary to ethics in sports and the Galatasaray spirit,” the club said in a statement on its official Web site. “This is a shame for the sports club, the Galatasaray community and the team’s supporters. We apologize for this embarrassment. All members of the coaching staff responsible for the event have been summarily released from the club.”

Alongside coach Çevik, assistant Cengiz Karadağ, technical manager Koray Mincinözlü and team manager Mert Uyguç were sacked from the club.

Speaking to the reporters after the emergency meeting, Galatasaray’s Vice Chairman Mehmet Helvacı admitted a wrongdoing, but added that the club did not expect a demotion from the league.

“Yes, there was an important mistake there and an athlete played with a teammate’s jersey,” said Helvacı. “We don’t think that that will lead to such a heavy penalty. But if the rules say so, there is nothing left but to take it.”