Beşiktaş loses sponsor and coach

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Ergin Ataman. AA photo

Beşiktaş Milangaz Coach Ergin Ataman, who carried the club to three trophies last season, announced his move to Galatasaray Medical Park late June 21, hours after Beşiktaş lost its main sponsor.

“I have agreed to a three-year contract with Galatasaray after talking with [club chairman] Ünal Aysal,” Ataman said. “I have been waiting for 10 days to see if the sponsorship deal would go through, but the search for a new sponsor will bring the club to the point of total destruction.”

Ataman led his team to the title in last season’s Turkish Cup and Eurochallenge Cup, capping a magnificent season with the club’s first league title in 37 years. However, the financial problems that the club is facing have been a major concern.

Beşiktaş will compete in the group stage of next season’s Turkish Airlines Euroleague.

Milangaz, owned by former Beşiktaş chairman Yıldırım Demirören, who is currently the chief of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), said it would not continue the deal for the next season, dealing a huge financial blow to the cash-stripped Istanbul club.

According to media reports, one of the reasons for Milangaz to end the sponsorship deal was the negative attitude by the Beşiktaş community towards the Demirören family. Beşiktaş supporters have been chanting against Demirören and the family’s companies for the former chairman’s role in the terrible financial conditions the club is currently in.