City Football Group (CFG) and İstanbul Başakşehir (IBFK) have today announced a football collaboration agreement.
The agreement will see CFG will provide consultation across various footballing projects – including long-term football strategy, recruitment, scouting and coaching methodology – as IBFK aim to grow and strive for success.
CFG will provide advice focused on achieving long-term plans and sustainability, with best-practice guidance across player recruitment strategies, academy development and use of data insights.
In turn, the collaboration will help CFG grow knowledge and develop relationships in Turkey, an ambitious football nation and developer of talent. This will also provide CFG with an opportunity to collaborate across emerging football areas with a Club that has a shared vision.
Brian Marwood, Managing Director of Global Football at City Football Group, said:
“We are delighted to sign this collaboration agreement with İstanbul Başakşehir. We are very proud of the unique expertise and experience we have within CFG Global Football and look forward to working with the Club to further support the growth of football in Turkey.”
Göksel Gümüşdağ, President of İstanbul Başakşehir FK, commented:
“İstanbul Başakşehir FK has achieved many firsts in Turkish football despite its young age and today, with this collaboration with the leading football group in the World, it marks another milestone for İstanbul Başakşehir and Turkish football. From the very beginning, we have reiterated at every opportunity that our vision and goals are different and today underlines this expression again. We are very happy, proud and excited. I would like to thank all the people in City Football Group for their approach and support in the process. I hope it will be beneficial for Başakşehir FK and Turkish football.”
Ferran Soriano, Chief Executive Officer at City Football Group, continued:
“Turkey is a passionate football country, and we are looking forward to working together with Başakşehir on strategic football projects. We aim to contribute to the Club success on the pitch and to develop great football expertise and intelligence in Turkey.”
About City Football Club:
City Football Group is the world's leading private owner and operator of football clubs – with 13 football clubs across five continents within the CFG family.
Established in May 2013, the CFG approach ensures that every club remains authentic to its fans and community, plays entertaining football and benefits from being part of a global organisation that applies the world's best expertise on and off the pitch.
CFG pioneers and delivers a consistent underlying approach to talent development, fan experiences, sports entertainment, commercial opportunities and community impact. Over 400 partner organisations are central to the CFG model and a commitment to positively shaping the future of football.
Over 4,000 athletes are a part of the Group and more than one billion followers worldwide support and connect with their CFG clubs.
CFG clubs include Manchester City FC, New York City FC, Melbourne City FC, Yokohama F. Marinos, Montevideo City Torque, Girona FC, Shenzhen Peng City FC, Mumbai City FC, Lommel SK, ESTAC, Palermo FC, Bahia, and partner club Bolívar.
CFG is majority owned by Newton Investment and Development LLC, wholly owned by His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed, with a significant minority shareholding held by US-based global technology investment firm, Silver Lake (18.16%).
About İstanbul Başakşehir:
İstanbul Başakşehir FK is a football club founded in Istanbul in 2014. The Club has a privately owned organizational model. The major shareholder and also the President of the Club is Göksel Gümüşdağ.
The Club is prominent with the professional and corporate football management approach and has maintained its consistent success in both sporting and administrative terms since its establishment.
Located in Başakşehir, the new region of Istanbul that stands out with its crowded population of more than 500 thousand people, the club plays its matches at Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadium, which has a capacity of 17,300 people. More than 600 thousand people in total follow the club on its official digital and social channels.
İstanbul Başakşehir FK, which stands out with a young and challenger to tradition identity, became the 6th club to win the title in the 65-years old Superlig, only 6 years after its foundation, and directly participated in the UEFA Champions League groups. The club participated in UEFA's club organisations 7 times in 10 years, qualified to Round of 16 twice. İstanbul Başakşehir is playing its 10th season in Superlig and achieved a lot in 10 years, including 2 Turkish Cup Finals and 1 Turkish Super Cup Final, in addition to 1 Super League championship.
Professional management, strong corporate structure and financial sustainability are the main success elements of the club in İstanbul Başakşehir, which has created a full history with what it has done on and off the field in 10 years. The importance it attaches to youth development, its huge academy investment and its data-focused approach to football have been the club's priorities since its establishment.
The club started its sustainability efforts early in order to take action on the issues that concern society most and create a positive impact, and its Esports operations early in order to reach young football fans.
The symbol of the club is an Owl which represents intelligence, transformation and wisdom.
İstanbul Başakşehir FK is An Ordinary member of the European Club Association (ECA).