Evima Futbol Danışmanlık, headquartered in Bulgaria, brought 1,850 football players born between 1997 and 2005 to a training camp in Alanya. The children, who arrived from 10 different cold countries along with their families, experienced training in 23-degree temperatures. In the tournament for those born in 2000, which saw the participation of 10 national teams, the Galatasaray football players left Torpedo Moskova and Lokomotif Moskova behind, defeating Shakhtar Donetsk in the final to become champions.
‘PROFESSIONALS IN ALANYA’
Stating that they have branches in Antalya as Evima Futbol Danışmanlık and that they are undertaking significant works in the region so that the tourist facilities located in Alanya can remain open during the winter period through sports tourism, Organizer Habip Cebeci stated that they bring professional first-league teams from around the world to Alanya with camp organizations in the months of January and February, and that they organize youth camps during the periods of November, December, and March.
‘THEY ARE COMING BACK TO THE SAME HOTEL’
Emphasizing that they have been organizing operations on sports tourism in Alanya for the last 6 years, Cebeci said, “We brought 4 thousand athletes to Alanya in just the first 3 months of 2014.” Expressing that the presence of families is of great importance in sports tourism, especially those directed towards youth and children, Cebeci stated, “Children's happiness inevitably reflects on their families, and they definitely come to the same hotel for a family vacation during the summer season.”
‘GOOD FACILITIES SHOULD BE PROVIDED’
Stating that sports tourism is a demanding business and that athletes brought from Kazakhstan for training camps can only reach Alanya through three flight transfers, Cebeci made the following statement: “Football clubs coming to Alanya must definitely be able to find teams to play friendly matches against here. Small championships should be organized for them. Good facilities and wide opportunities must be offered throughout the camp periods so that organizations can be sustained by increasing them every year.”
'WE CANNOT EXCEED CAPACITY'
Emphasizing that the number of football pitches in Alanya is insufficient, Cebeci stated that Türkler Mayor Hayri Çavuşoğlu, in particular, has provided significant support regarding the construction of football pitches, saying, “Mayor Çavuşoğlu is the mayor who provides the greatest support to the football infrastructure in Alanya. However, this infrastructure should not remain limited to the Türkler region. It should spread to every area from the east to the west of Alanya so that sports tourism can be increased here. Unfortunately, we cannot exceed a certain capacity in Alanya. We are forced to direct the number of athletes we bring to Alanya, which exceeds our capacity, to the hotels in Belek and Side. We need more football pitches in Alanya. Authorities should lend an ear to our voice and ensure that more sports facilities, primarily football pitches, are built in Alanya. The demand for Alanya should not shift to different regions.”
‘THE TASK FALLS TO INVESTORS’
Burhan Sili, President of the Alanya Tourist Operators Association (ALTİD), stated that these types of football camps should be brought to Alanya so that tourism can be spread over a longer period, adding, “A great deal of work falls to investors for this. Alanya needs more sports halls and football pitches.”