Hidayet Türkoğlu: “I wish the new season to be beneficial for all our clubs.”

The President of the Turkish Basketball Federation (TBF), Hidayet Türkoğlu, stated after the draw for the 2024-2025 season schedule, “I wish the new season to be beneficial for all our clubs.”

The schedule draw, held for the first time at the Basketball Development Center, was attended by TBF President Hidayet Türkoğlu, board members, and club representatives. After the draw, Hidayet Türkoğlu made statements to the press, beginning by saying that the 2024-2025 season is a special year for them. He stated, “As a federation, we hope it will be a more exciting league with some changes we made as a result of consultations with the clubs. We wanted to hold this draw at the Basketball Development Center, where we currently are, as a separate excitement. Hopefully, by mid-September, we will have introduced the Basketball Development Center to Turkish basketball with the participation of our President. We are excited about that. The part of the facility we are currently in is Block A, which we have arranged for the national teams to train whenever they find the opportunity. Next to it is our 10,000-seat hall. Starting from the next season, A. Efes and Galatasaray will also benefit from this facility. Right beside it, we have three separate stands with a capacity of 500 each for our youth teams, and we are very happy to bring the Basketball Development Center to our country, which will benefit our clubs starting with those in Istanbul and then all clubs. We cannot thank our President enough for giving us this joy. From the first day we presented this facility to them, they have always stood behind it. Hopefully, we want to introduce this facility to Turkish basketball with their participation as well. We plan to create a system that our clubs in Istanbul and later all clubs can benefit from. I welcome Mersin Büyükşehir and Yalova Basketball Team, who joined the league in the 2024-2025 season, to the Super League. I wish all our teams that will represent us in Europe success,” he expressed.

“We preferred a format that allows Turkish players to get more playing time”

Regarding the format to be implemented in the league for the new season, Türkoğlu shared his thoughts: “In our consultations with our clubs this year, we always exchange ideas. This year, we wanted to bring this format. I believe that it will be a process where everyone will feel more excitement from the beginning to the end of the season. This excitement will be important for us in terms of both the quality of the league and its visibility, as well as by playing more matches. As a result of our consultations with the clubs, we preferred a format not in terms of foreign players but in terms of allowing Turkish players to get more playing time. Everyone thinks of it as 4+3 foreigners, but our aim is for Turkish athletes to get more playing time and to be on the court during critical moments. We want to have a successful process both for the clubs and the national team. Especially when you look at the last six years, our clubs have achieved significant success. To continue this success of the clubs, we have made such a change because we believe that especially Turkish players should be part of the excitement during the crucial and most exciting moments of the games. We will closely follow this process together. Hopefully, it will first benefit their development in basketball, and later it will be beneficial for their clubs and the national team.”