The International Football Economy Forum (UFEF) was launched Thursday by Turkey’s leading media group Turkuvaz Media in Istanbul’s Eyüpsultan district.

The event, which was attended by Youth and Sports Minister Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoğlu, started with speeches from Turkish Football Federation (TFF) President Nihat Özdemir and Football Clubs Association Chairperson Mehmet Sepil.

Kasapoğlu said in his speech that the coronavirus pandemic has affected all sports worldwide.

“I believe we will get through it in the least costly way,” he said.

Özdemir said that the federation is aware of the problems caused by the pandemic in the Turkish football economy, adding that they are trying to overcome this process with the least damage.

“There has been a significant loss of income in world football due to the pandemic and the football economy has shrunk. In recent weeks, the head of La Liga announced that there has been a loss of 490 million euros ($583 million). Other major European leagues also announced a loss of 500 million euros to 1 billion euros. One of the reasons for it is the decreasing income of publishers,” he said.

During the first day of the event, Turkish national team coach Şenol Güneş shared his perspectives on football in a special session moderated by the head of the sports department of the Sabah daily, Murat Özbostan. Other prominent members of the football world will deliver speeches in special sessions.

Beşiktaş President Ahmet Nur Çebi, Galatasaray President Mustafa Cengiz and Trabzonspor President Ahmet Ağaoğlu took part in the session on the football economy, moderated by Özbostan and the deputy economy manager of Sabah, Dilek Güngör.

In the "Women's Hand in Turkish Football" panel, the coach of the women's Beşiktaş football team, Bahar Özgüvenç, Kayserispor President Berna Gözbaşı and Lale Orta, the head of the Sports Management Department of Okan University School of Applied Sciences, shared their views in a session moderated by the Ankara representative of Sabah, Şebnem Bursalı.

The event also hosted guests from Europe. The president of Dutch football club Fortuna Sittard, Özgür Işıtan Gün, and the vice president of Belgium’s Westerlo, Hasan Çetinkaya, participated in the session on Turkish sports managers in Europe moderated by anchor Ali Baransel from sports broadcaster A Spor.

Additionally, TFF’s video assistant referee (VAR) coordinator Barış Şimşek and Muhammed Özhan from Türk Telekom discussed VAR technology in football.