Legal dispute brings halt to Turkey’s physically disabled sports body

ANKARA

AA Photo

The Turkish Sports Federation for the Physically Disabled (TBESF) has suspended its activities, citing lack of funds, but the Sports Ministry has hit back at criticism over the closure, saying that a judicial dispute led to the closure of operations. 

“Our board decided on Jan. 25 to delay activities of all branches, excluding the Shooting Turkey Championship in Mersin, between Feb. 5 and 8 due to the lack of allowances,” the TBESF said in a statement on its website. 

The federation is active in 16 branches, with active sponsorships in many of them. 

Refuting the TBSEF's claim over funding, the Youth and Sports Ministry said in a Jan. 28 statement that the president and the board of the federation had not been cleared over various issues during a Nov. 22, 2014 financial assembly, prompting a court to order the cancelation of the assembly pending a court case.
 
The ministry said the cut was due to the fact that the judicial process was still continuing.
 
The TBSEF has announced Feb. 15 as the date of a new financial assembly, while the ministry said budgets for federations were decided at the start of each year.
 
The ministry's statement also said the TBESF could use its own money or funds from sponsors or other sources.