Fatih Altaylı, a prominent Turkish columnist and former media executive, has publicly rejected ongoing conspiracy theories about a secret "yapi" (structure) allegedly controlling Turkish football.
In an interview statement, he said: "In football, 90% of those who say 'There's a structure' know that there isn't one." Altaylı pointed out that the country's most powerful political figure is an open Fenerbahçe fan who frequently discusses how much he grieves or rejoices for the club.
He also reported that the Turkish Football Federation president's hostility toward Galatasaray is obvious to everyone. Given these openly displayed loyalties and rivalries, Altaylı asked rhetorically what hidden structure would even be needed.
Rather than a secret conspiracy, Altaylı declares that Turkish football suffers from a much more mundane but pervasive problem: widespread mediocrity. He claims the country's media, broadcasting standards, business environment, and institutional quality are all falling apart "thread by thread.
When everything functions at a mediocre or below-mediocre level, he says, expecting perfect refereeing is unrealistic. "Our everything is falling apart thread by thread," he stated.
"When everything is mediocre or below mediocre, the referee is also below mediocre." A good referee might emerge occasionally, he admitted, but systemic excellence cannot be expected from a broken system.
Altaylı concludes that blaming every bad call, every suspicious result, and every institutional failure on a secret "yapi" has become a convenient excuse. Those who use the term most loudly, he claims, often know there is no such structure. Instead of fixing the real problems in poor governance, low-quality broadcasting, and institutional decay club officials and fans hide behind conspiracy theories.