FENERBAHÇE SPORTS CLUB LEVELS THE PLAYING FIELD FOR GENDER EQUALITY
Fenerbahçe Sports Club joined forces with the HeForShe, a global solidarity movement for gender equality carried out by UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. As a result of this unique collaboration launched with the support of Tüpraş, Fenerbahçe is set to pioneer a number of initiatives in the sports community through the “Equal Together” message until the end of 2019. The Sports Club aims to set an example globally for advancing gender equality in sport. The Fenerbahçe Football Club Soccer Team will be wearing the HeForShe logo on their right arm as part of the collaboration announced with a grand launch event at the Fenerbahçe–Aytemiz Alanyaspor match.
Fenerbahçe Sports Club joined forces with the HeForShe, a global solidarity movement for gender equality initiated in September 2014 by UN Women. Koc group has been themain supporter of the movement in Turkey since its national launch in March 2015. The collaboration was announced to the world with a grand event during the Fenerbahçe–Aytemiz Alanyaspor match at the Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium on Sunday, 11 November. Elizabeth Nyamayaro, Senior Advisor to Under Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women, and Global Head of the HeForShe Initiative, came to Turkey for the launch and watched the game at the stadium with Fenerbahçe Sports Club President Ali Y. Koç, Tüpraş General Manager İbrahim Yelmenoğlu.
The Fenerbahçe Sports Club Soccer Team came out to the pitch wearing the HeForShe logo on their right arm and carrying the “Equal Together” banner. Also, for this match alone, the numbers in the back of the jerseys were painted in magenta, the HeForShe official brand color. The giant flag opened in the middle of the pitch called out the “Equal Together” message and, before the match, a manifesto was read to the whole stadium, expressing the Fenerbahçe Soccer Club’s commitment to gender equality. The stadium screens featured messages drawing attention to gender equality by Fenerbahçe players.
Fenerbahçe President Ali Y. Koç expressed excitement for starting a new era in the national and international sports community for the gender equality initiative: “We see many things that are happening for the first time. For the first time in its history Fenerbahçe wears a logo on the arm. Again for the first time ever, we are supporting an international movement with an international agency. For the first time, for this special occasion, the numbers on the back of the jerseys of our Soccer Team Players were painted in magenta. However, as far as we know, there are no other examples that include such a commitment at this scale. Therefore, I believe that this collaboration will set a unique example internationally. Our goal is to achieve gender equality transformation through sports in our country and internationally.We will start by cleaning our backyard first. Our soccer team players, technical staff, board of directors and all club members including us, will be trained about gender equality. We aim to make our sports facilities family-friendly. Making this transformation a part of our DNA is not straightforward. Once we achieve this internally, we will then spread this cause to our entire community.”