The Turkish Football Federation (; TFF) is the governing body of association football in Turkey. It was formed on 23 April 1923, and joined

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

the same year and

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

in 1962. It organizes the Turkey national football team, the Turkish Football League and the Turkish Cup.

Governed competitions

Leagues

The Turkish football league system is divided into eight tiers, ranging from the top-tier

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

to local amateur divisions.

Cups

The Turkish Cup changed its name to the Federation Cup (Turkish: ''Federasyon Kupası'') in the 1980–81 season, then back to Turkish Cup in 1992–93.

History

Hosting bids

Turkey have bid five times to host the

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

. Turkey submitted a joint bid with

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

for

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

, which failed. Their bid for

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

was also unsuccessful, with the competition going to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The federation also submitted a bid to host

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

, but UEFA announced that Euro 2016 would be hosted by

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Turkey were also bidding for UEFA Euro 2024, competing against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Germany were announced the hosts. Turkey will host the UEFA Euro 2032, alongside Italy (both previously bid against each other for 2016), given Turkey to finally host a UEFA Euro on their fifth attempt. Turkey had already hosted the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final, the 2023 UEFA Champions League Final, and the 2009 UEFA Cup Final all played in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. At the youth-level, they hosted the UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, after first hosting the event back in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

Controversies

Denial of former national championships

The TFF organized a nationwide championship as early as 1924. That year the Turkish Football Championship (Turkish: ''Türkiye Futbol Şampiyonası'') was held in order to bring forth a national football champion. The championship format was based on a knockout competition, contested between the winners of each of the country's regional leagues. Some years later, in 1937, the first national league called Millî Küme was introduced. The league was held until 1950, one year before the Turkish Football Championship was also abolished. Even though both competitions were organized by the TFF and were official championships respectively, they are not acknowledged and counted by the very same federation which held them. Until today no official reason or motive was given for the unparalleled and irregular denial. All other football associations in Europe without exception consequently acknowledge their former national championships. The Turkish Federation is the only one with such a stance. As a result, Ankara Demirspor became the first club to officially demand that the federation acknowledge their championship title won in 1947, but received no answer at all to date. Club president Nuğman Yavuz stated that he contacted the Turkish Federation twice, but the federation did not respond in any way. Similarly, Fenerbahçe also requested proper acknowledgement of these national championship titles, and faced the same unconstructive reaction. Having won a total of nine titles in both former championships, the club demands to have those official titles rightfully acknowledged. In addition to requesting acknowledgement of the titles, Fenerbahçe's kit for the 2023-24 season includes a badge with 5 stars above which can't be worn in league matches because it is against the regulations of the federation and they did not give permission to play with them, likely in the hopes that the TFF will recognize their pre-1959 championships, also notably on the club's website the 28 championships are listed as if they were official likely as an act of protest against the TFF's lack of recognition of the pre-1959 titles. For instance, Mehmet Demirkol, a renowned sports writer and commentator, stated that

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

won their 20th championship title overall in the 2016–17 season, not their 15th. Numerous other sports writers, persons of authority, politicians, and officials also openly expressed their opinions on this issue and reinforced the view that the Turkish federation should unambiguously acknowledge and count the former championship titles. Among them is also historian and headmaster of the

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School (, ), established in Istanbul in 1481, is the oldest and Selective school, highly selective high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational institution after Istanbul University, which was establi ...

Vahdettin Engin. According to historians' analysis of the 2002 Turkish Football Federation Conciliation Board decision, which stated that the Turkish League Championships began before 1959 and the championships before 1959 cannot be left uncounted. In addition to requesting acknowledgement of the titles, Fenerbahçe's kit for the 2023-24 season includes a badge with 5 stars above which can't be worn in league matches because it is against the regulations of the federation and they did not give permission to play with them, likely in the hopes that the TFF will recognize their pre-1959 championships, also notably on the club's website the 28 championships are listed as an act of protest against the TFF's lack of recognition of the pre-1959 titles.

2011 Turkish sports corruption scandal

In the summer of 2011, Turkish police began an investigation into 19 football matches suspected of being fixed, and by 10 July 61 individuals had been arrested, including club managers and Turkish national team players. 26 of these would later have requests for release refused by the court. By 12 July

had confirmed they were monitoring the situation. Accusations included attempts to fix matches to influence league standings. Beşiktaş president Yıldırım Demirören later returned the Turkish Cup following match-fixing allegations levelled at his own club. On 6 November 2020, the Turkish court declared all suspects innocent. The trial was held in the Istanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court after the appeals court overturned another acquittal verdict in January by a lower court for all the suspects. During the trial, 19 suspects were declared innocent due to the lack of evidence. Being one of the clubs which were acquitted of the accusations, Fenerbahçe demand €135 million from

and TFF in the context of a claim for damages.

2023 melee during MKE Ankaragücü-Çaykur Rizespor match

On 11 December 2023, a melee occurred during a match between

MKE Ankaragücü MKE Ankaragücü or fully Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Ankaragücü (), is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Ankara. The football team wears a yellow and navy kit and plays its home matches at Eryaman Stadium following the ...

and

Çaykur Rizespor Çaykur Rizespor Kulübü is a Turkish professional Association football, football club based in Rize, a city on the eastern Black Sea region, Black Sea coast. The team competes in the Süper Lig, the top tier of Football in Turkey, Turkish footba ...

, in which fans being invaded the playing field's pitch. Six people, including MKE Ankaragucum club President Faruk Koca, were arrested for assaulting a referee. The referee, Halil Umut Meler, was hospitalized following the assault. The next day, Koca resigned from MKE Ankaragucu, and the Turkish Football Federation decided to suspend all league games in Turkey indefinitely. Meler, who suffered a minor facial facture and eye injury, was discharged from the hospital on 13 December. The same day, it was announced that the suspension of league games would end on 19 December 2023. On 14 December 2023, the TFF announced that Koca had been banned permanently for punching Meler. Ankaragücü were fined two million

lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current Turkish lira, currency of Turkey and also the local name of the Lebanese pound, currencies of Lebanon and of Syrian pound, Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, ...

(£54,000) and ordered to play five home games without any fans. Koca stood trial on 9 January 2024 on charges of injuring a public official, threatening an official, and violating a law relating to the prevention of violence in sports. On 11 November, Koca was convicted and sentenced to 3.5 years' imprisonment.

Medals (1923-2024)

Turkish Football Federation gain 45 medals of 900 events.

Presidents

References

;Video references

External links

*
Turkey
at FIFA site (archived 9 June 2007) {{Authority control 1923 establishments in Turkey Sports organizations established in 1923

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

Football in Turkey Futsal in Turkey National members of UEFA Association football governing bodies in Europe Association football governing bodies in Asia