Syrian football teams play in tournaments in Turkey

ISTANBUL

Some Syrian amateur and professional football clubs started playing in private tournaments in Turkey’s southeastern and southern provinces of Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa and Adana, according to Syrian officials talking to daily Milliyet.

The latest tournament called the “Syrian Revolution Cup” has been organized in Gaziantep, in which 16 teams participated. The winner of the “Revolution Cup” will compete with the winner of the Adana tournament in the “Syrian Super Cup.”

“This is the first time that Syrian teams play their matches abroad,” said Salam Mesto, an administrator from the Syrian National Olympics Committee, adding, “We will go on.”

When asked, “Why did you name the tournament as a revolution?” Syrian Olympic Committee Secretary-General Ahmad Jamil al-Ali noted, “We want to support the opposition groups fighting the regime with sports, that’s why we called it a revolution.”

Explaining the committee’s future plans, al-Ali stated, “We hope to form an umbrella organization where we can train Syrian sportspeople across Turkey and see these footballers playing in Turkish teams and leagues.”

The plans of the committee do not look like a dream as al-Furat, a team established in 2015 in Şanlıurfa, became the first Syrian team that obtained a license from the Turkish Football Federation.

According to daily Milliyet, the team obtained the right to play in the regional amateur leagues after nine of its players were granted Turkish citizenship.

“The team consisting of players from eastern Syrian, Aleppo and Homs played in various regional tournaments,” reported the daily.