‘Tape wars’ hit Fenerbahçe as chair slams former coach

Istanbul club Fenerbahçe is no stranger to scandals; however, the latest incident that followed the resignation of coach Ersun Yanal marks a new low in the history of Turkish football.

Yanal’s forced resignation from the club has gone beyond a simple management decision, with the release of a secretly taped dressing room video and Fenerbahçe chairman Aziz Yıldırım’s personal attack on the former Turkish national team coach.

“The man [Yanal] was not training the team, he decided on the training schedule based on [appointments with] his lady friends,” Yıldırım was quoted as saying Aug. 12 in daily Milliyet. “He is obsessed with computers and statistics, so I have a computer here, too. Computers don’t bring titles; trophies come with teamwork.”

Yıldırım’s remarks came around the same time a secretly recorded tape was leaked to the Internet. In the voice recording, a man reported to be Yanal talks to a group of players in the dressing room. “Come to training whenever you want, I really don’t care,” the voice in the recording, which was first published on YouTube, says.

“I have already given up everything. I’m ready to leave today or tomorrow. I simply don’t care, I have not come [to this point] with Fenerbahçe and I will not go with Fenerbahçe. I’m sorry, but I don’t give a f***,” the man in the leaked record says.

Yanal quit his post on Aug. 9 amid reported anger from Yıldırım that players were given time off despite lackluster preseason performances.

“It’s impossible to maintain my job in these circumstances as a head coach,” Yanal, whose contract was extended for two...