Fenerbahçe fans stage hero's welcome for defiant club chair Aziz Yıldırım, who faces jail for match-fixing

The Supreme Court last week confirmed a prison term of six years and three months against the Istanbul club's president Aziz Yıldırım and the sentences of several other Fenerbahce officials over a vast match-fixing scandal. CİHAN photo

Turkish football giant Fenerbahçe's fans welcome the president of the club on Jan 21 upon his arrival at Sabiha Gökçen Airport in Istanbul. AFP photo

Fenerbahçe fans stage hero's welcome for defiant club chair Aziz Yıldırım, who faces jail for match-fixing

Yıldırım, who arrived from holidays abroad with his family, claimed he had been 'ambushed' in a political plot against Fenerbahçe. AA photo

Fenerbahçe fans stage hero's welcome for defiant club chair Aziz Yıldırım, who faces jail for match-fixing

'As I said from the very beginning, the court case regarding match fixing in Turkey is a political case, and the ruling of this case has also been made politically,' Yıldırım told Reuters. AA photo

Fenerbahçe fans stage hero's welcome for defiant club chair Aziz Yıldırım, who faces jail for match-fixing

'I do not respect or recognise this ruling,' he also said. AA photo

Fenerbahçe fans stage hero's welcome for defiant club chair Aziz Yıldırım, who faces jail for match-fixing

The case had been putting Fenerbahçe’s 2010-2011 season, in which it beat Trabzonspor to the title on goal difference, under scrutiny. AFP photo

Fenerbahçe fans stage hero's welcome for defiant club chair Aziz Yıldırım, who faces jail for match-fixing

The 61-year-old, who appealed for a 'correction' of the decision to the Supreme Court of Appeals Prosecutor’s Office earlier this week, faces more than two years in prison if the ruling goes ahead. He has already spent one year in prison while under arrest. AFP photo

Fenerbahçe fans stage hero's welcome for defiant club chair Aziz Yıldırım, who faces jail for match-fixing

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose government is battling a wide-ranging corruption investigation, also criticized the court’s ruling, which will prevent Yıldırım from working for Fenerbahçe. AFP photo

Fenerbahçe fans stage hero's welcome for defiant club chair Aziz Yıldırım, who faces jail for match-fixing

Yıldırım has recently been re-elected as Fenerbahçe chairman for a record 11th term, which ensures that he will become the longest-serving figure heading one of Turkey's biggest and most popular clubs. AFP photo

Fenerbahçe fans stage hero's welcome for defiant club chair Aziz Yıldırım, who faces jail for match-fixing

Next month, Yıldırım's time in charge will officially surpass that of Şükrü Saraçoğlu, a former politician and prime minister who chaired the club 16 years between 1934 and 1950. AFP photo

Fenerbahçe fans stage hero's welcome for defiant club chair Aziz Yıldırım, who faces jail for match-fixing

Fenerbahçe's football branch has won five national league titles under Yıldırım. The club's other branches have witnessed huge leaps, especially in the basketball, volleyball, athletics and women's categories. AFP photo

Fenerbahçe fans stage hero's welcome for defiant club chair Aziz Yıldırım, who faces jail for match-fixing

Fenerbahçe fans stage hero's welcome for defiant club chair Aziz Yıldırım, who faces jail for match-fixing

Fenerbahçe fans stage hero's welcome for defiant club chair Aziz Yıldırım, who faces jail for match-fixing

The Supreme Court last week confirmed a prison term of six years and three months against the Istanbul club's president Aziz Yıldırım and the sentences of several other Fenerbahce officials over a vast match-fixing scandal. CİHAN photo

Turkish football giant Fenerbahçe's fans welcome the president of the club on Jan 21 upon his arrival at Sabiha Gökçen Airport in Istanbul. AFP photo

Yıldırım, who arrived from holidays abroad with his family, claimed he had been 'ambushed' in a political plot against Fenerbahçe. AA photo

'As I said from the very beginning, the court case regarding match fixing in Turkey is a political case, and the ruling of this case has also been made politically,' Yıldırım told Reuters. AA photo

'I do not respect or recognise this ruling,' he also said. AA photo

The case had been putting Fenerbahçe’s 2010-2011 season, in which it beat Trabzonspor to the title on goal difference, under scrutiny. AFP photo

The 61-year-old, who appealed for a 'correction' of the decision to the Supreme Court of Appeals Prosecutor’s Office earlier this week, faces more than two years in prison if the ruling goes ahead. He has already spent one year in prison while under arrest. AFP photo

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose government is battling a wide-ranging corruption investigation, also criticized the court’s ruling, which will prevent Yıldırım from working for Fenerbahçe. AFP photo

Yıldırım has recently been re-elected as Fenerbahçe chairman for a record 11th term, which ensures that he will become the longest-serving figure heading one of Turkey's biggest and most popular clubs. AFP photo

Next month, Yıldırım's time in charge will officially surpass that of Şükrü Saraçoğlu, a former politician and prime minister who chaired the club 16 years between 1934 and 1950. AFP photo

Fenerbahçe's football branch has won five national league titles under Yıldırım. The club's other branches have witnessed huge leaps, especially in the basketball, volleyball, athletics and women's categories. AFP photo

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