By David Gold
February 27 – The embattled Turkish Football Federation (TFF) has elected Beşiktaş President Yıldırım Demirören (pictured) as their new chairman at a general assembly today.
Demirören’s election, with 221 of 229 votes, was hardly a surprise as he was the only candidate, although his own club are one of those caught up in the match fixing scandal that has rocked the nation.
Currently, 93 people are being indicted by the Turkish courts and though Beşiktaş were heavily implicated in the investigation their former coach Tayfur Havutçu was last year released from jail.
The TFF themselves have been mired in controversy since the start of the match fixing investigation, and the Presidential election took place following the resignation of Mehmet Ali Aydınlar last month.
He quit after the TFF failed to amend its disciplinary code to prevent clubs found guilty of involvement in match fixing being relegated.
Demirören is keen that Turkey moves on from the match fixing debacle quickly and by the time UEFA arrive in Istanbul for their Executive Committee meeting and annual congress on March 20 until 22.
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