Who is Bahadır Bulut, President of the Astroturf Football Federation, Founder of Mengü Sports Women's Football Team, Tomris Sports Manager, who has more than 20 years of referee experience and still continues, expresses the problems of sports and athletes with weekly columns, holds our girls' hands and introduces them to football?
I was born in Ankara. I completed my primary education at Ankara Primary School, my high school education at Ankara High School, and my undergraduate education at Kırıkkale University Faculty of Engineering and Anadolu University Faculty of Economics International Relations department.
I discovered the importance of disciplined teamwork and team spirit during high school. I was interested in football, handball and athletics as an amateur. I started football refereeing in 1999 with the spirit of leadership. I took part in many amateur and professional local and foreign football special competitions for 24 years. I have undertaken many artificial turf tournaments and social responsibility projects in Ankara. I served as a referee in the artificial turf organizations of many state institutions.
During this period, I received the professional sports masseur certificate issued by the General Directorate of Youth and Sports and the 1st Level Pilates Coaching Certificate from the Gymnastics Federation. In 2014, I founded Mengü Sports Club, which I founded and chaired, and the team is currently competing in the TFF Women's 3rd League. I am also the manager of Tomris Sports Club. I serve Turkish sports and Turkish youth by opening many branches in my club. I received the Amateur Sailing Certificate from the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications. I have a captain's license and a short distance radio license in national waters. I know how to drive a yacht and I enjoy using it.
For professionalism in artificial turf fields, I founded the Artificial Turf Football Federation in 2017, which is a first in Türkiye. As a Federation, we organized the first Astroturf Public Football Tournament in Türkiye under the sponsorship of the Presidency of the Supreme Court. We are trying to gather hundreds of thousands of football fans in Türkiye under one roof with the AstroTurf Football Federation. I work in many non-governmental organizations. In addition, I have made and continue to make sports programs on many TV channels. I am the producer and moderator of the program “90+Var”. I continue to write columns in several newspapers. I love being in every aspect of sports and serving.
How did you come up with the idea of becoming a referee?
My late father worked at TCDD and we live in lodgings near the train station. Our home is opposite Ankara Demirspor Club. I am 16-17 years old. I was training at Demirspor Infrastructure and the leagues started after a long preparation period. We go to and from the matches. I always sit on the bench. Sometimes I enter the game with five minutes remaining or the coach does not let me in at all. My brother has a friend in the lodgings, he should listen to Ahmet Alanka. I said to him, "Brother, you are on good terms with the coach, if only he could make me play for a little longer in the match. I don't miss any training" etc... He said, "Do you want to be a referee?" "Come, let me make you a referee," he said. "Be ready at 09.00 tomorrow morning, we are going to the course," he said. The next day, I found myself at the ANKARA TFFHGD referee course in Ulus. Rest assured, Genghis Khan the Wise was our course instructor. We received training for a week. After the training, my perspective on football changed completely and I started to feel better. In the meantime, I continue training at the club. I think to myself that if there is no refereeing, I will continue playing football.
Then they started giving matches to candidate referees. We went to school matches almost every day. About a month later, I was assigned to the match of my own team. I couldn't sleep at all that night because of excitement. I will never forget that moment, we were at the ceremony, the teams arrived and the equipment was checked. My teammates are looking at me with surprise. When did you become a referee? Is this Bahadır? There are people who say it looks similar. We came to the middle of the field, both teams lined up, one to my respect and the other to my left, we were going to greet the stands. Our team coach approached me a little, looked at me, then turned and looked at the bench, then looked at me, looked at me with surprise, thinking that he had compared me to the bench a few times. Finally, he came up to me and asked, "Are you Bahadır?" When he saw me, he got excited, hugged me and wished me success. He congratulated him after the match. The next day, I went to the club, he hosted me in his room, fed me, I felt like a king. Refereeing has been my life since then.
Have you officiated a women's football match during your time as a referee?
I took part in the women's league many times. I entered the competition. At that time, there was only the 2nd league and the number of teams was small.
Do you have any memorable memories from the women's football matches you managed?
One day, I manage a women's competition again. The ball goes to the crown, I show the direction, no one goes to the ball. Both teams look at each other. I said the red team will throw the ball and I told the girl closest to me that you can throw it.
He went and took the ball. Suddenly he made a punt and I froze in place. I said, what are you doing, sir? “I used a crown,” he said. :)) This is the first time I've seen anyone take a throw-in with their feet.
What are the differences between women's football and men's football as a referee?
Everyone, men and women, knows football and makes comments, but they know and comment while watching. Playing is a separate virtue. It is completely different, it is a matter of talent and intelligence. Anyone, man or woman, can play.
What led you to establish Mengü Sports Women's Football Club? When and how did you establish it?
In 2014, I went to the stadium in Antalya where I would manage a friendly match. FRANCE-RUSSIA super league professional women's football teams will play. I watched with admiration the teams' preparation for the competition, their discipline and professionalism. I talked to the managers and they told me that they see the Bundesliga and the Premier League as valuable in their country and that the state supports them. A professional appearance and quality game was played, just like our Super League men's teams. When I returned from the camp, I did some research and as a result, I predicted that the women's league would gain importance and be valuable in Türkiye. 2014 I founded Mengü Sports Club. I decided to join the women's league. We are entering the leagues with the support of my mother and ten of the female managers of our club. My mother takes care of our daughters.
Has Mengü Sports Women's Football Club reached the point you wanted today? What kind of difficulties and problems do you encounter?
Women's football in Türkiye is progressing very late. Support for the Women's League was low at that time, advertising was insufficient, and women's interest was very low. Over time, this changed with the increase of clubs, but I still do not think there is enough interest. The Federation should make women's football more attractive and take actions that will increase women's interest in football. It should be explained publicly to parents that football is not just a men's game, so that everyone can easily send their children.
As a manager, what do you think our female football players should do to improve themselves?
First of all, our young people should love doing sports. Our girls who focus on football are very lucky. They will receive the female football player's license. Women will reach the dream of a professional football player, which is every man's dream, in a shorter time. Achieving difficulties will not only increase your self-confidence but will also improve your quality of life. To make a difference, it is necessary to work consistently, disciplined and continuously.
What kind of projects should be done regarding women's football? How can we close the gap with men's football or Europe?
In order for our women to start playing football, we must first change our parents' perspective. We are trying to convince our parents more than the children. Sports has a high impact on career. Entrance to most stadiums is free for women, but making it an area where licensed female football players will feel more special and allowing them to watch big competitions in the stadiums will make the interest more permanent. Women's soccer programs are essential. The Women Gool program is the greatest service provided to women's football and this should be supported. Our female national athletes, female models, female politicians and female business people should be present in these formations and support them. Exercising should not be a burden on the person doing sports and their family.
What are the deficiencies in the status of women's leagues in TFF? Are there any points you think would be better if this were the case regarding women?
Every season there is uncertainty in the women's league, the change of the federation, natural disasters, some priorities, and women's football was not taken into consideration. With the latest decision taken by TFF, the women's football committee was formed as a separate board, which made us all happy. It will get better quickly from now on. I believe.
At the same time, you have been the president of the AstroTurf Football Federation since 2017. What is the founding purpose, activities and objectives of the Federation?
All stories end where they started. When we enter the time tunnel and go back to the past, when we were all just starting to walk; We remember the days when we started playing football on the carpets at home with balloons and balls of wool, and then our football life continued between the stone castles we built in the neighborhoods, with quince donkeys, apples and nylon balls.
The infrastructures of our Professional Football Teams and famous football players have always gone through these stages and were discovered here. When our football life on big fields is over, we return to artificial fields, that is, football begins on the carpet and ends on the carpet.
Football is the most common sport in Turkey and the world today and has the highest number of spectators. In our beautiful country, hundreds of thousands of football lovers of all ages play football sportsmanfully on artificial turf fields. To ensure that male and female astroturf football players, who have an innate talent for sports, become more encouraging, more disciplined, more efficient and higher-level athletes. To organize astroturf sports and to support Turkey in this field with our shining football stars; We are working to establish the Artificial Turf Football Federation, which we have started in order to become a football country above Brazil and Argentina, and to be within the body of an autonomous astroturf federation, or TFF. We have informed our state administrators that this is a deficiency, let's see good things happen.
“Astroturf pitches are the biggest areas where sports spread to the grassroots.”
Sports is a useful field for our young people to become good individuals, but the clubs devoted to this work are not given enough support. They do not have enough sports fields or fields to train. This is one of the biggest problems of our young people. As the President of the Astroturf Turf Federation, what kind of solution do you think can be produced?
Unfortunately, we are experiencing a major field problem, especially in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. There is a stadium problem, and there is a very late development. Our Amateur Teams are currently preparing for the leagues on the fields. We are very excited to hear that if it were not for the determination and ambition of people who strive for the development of sports, it would be difficult but quickly improved with these opportunities.
Shouldn't forget,
“Service to the public was service to God”
I wish Womengool success in its publishing life. I would like to thank Bedri Akkerman and everyone who serves Akkerman media.
I would like to end my speech with the words of the Great Leader Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk about sports:
"Sports are not only a superiority of physical ability. Cognition and morality also help in this work. Strong people with short intelligence and comprehension cannot cope with less strong ones with good intelligence. I like the athlete who is smart, agile and at the same time moral."
