Fenerbahçe's Yıldırım to seek reelection as chairman

Fenerbahçe chairman Aziz Yıldırım has announced his bid on Friday to be the head of the İstanbul club once again.

Yıldırım announced his candidacy for the upcoming June 3 election in a news conference in İstanbul.

He said that he is "much more thrilled than he felt 20 years ago" when he was first elected as Fenerbahçe president in 1998.

The 65-year-old chairman's main opponent will be businessman Ali Koç.

Born in 1967 in İstanbul, Ali Koç is a well-known Turkish businessman, who has held the vice presidency of the executive board of Koç Holding, a prominent Turkish conglomerate, since February 2016.

During the Yıldırım era, Fenerbahçe has enlarged and modernized its stadium, Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium -- also known as Ülker Stadium for sponsorship reasons.

The renovation of the stadium, which boasts a 50,530-seat capacity, was completed in April 2006.

The stadium hosted the 2009 UEFA Cup Final, the last under that name. It was rebranded as UEFA Europa League.

In more than 100 years of existence, Fenerbahçe has won 19 Turkish Super Lig titles, six of which came during the Yıldırım era.

Fenerbahçe's men's basketball team was crowned Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champions in May 2017 to become the first ever Turkish club to lift that trophy.

FENERBAHÇE BANNED FROM UEFA COMPETITION

However, Yıldırım's stint as club chairman was marred by a match fixing scandal which led to the club's suspension from the European tournaments.

European football's governing body UEFA barred Fenerbahçe from European tournaments for two seasons as a result of its investigation in 2013.

Turkey's match fixing scandal broke out after the 2010-11 season of the Spor Toto Super Lig, which saw Fenerbahçe win the title.

Several important football figures -- chairmen, players and board members -- were taken into custody over match fixing and bribery after a legal action was launched in July 2011.

That month, Yıldırım was jailed for forming an illegal organization and his involvement in match fixing in Turkish football's top division. He was sentenced to six years and three months, of which he served a year.

In June 2014, Aziz Yıldırım's jail term was suspended and a retrial was ordered. Yıldırım was acquitted of all charges by an İstanbul court on Oct. 9, 2015.