Galatasaray heed Turkish president s call to rename stadia

Istanbul May 28 (IANS) Turkish football giants Galatasaray have decided to rename their stadium on the orders of nation s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who said the word arena needed to be removed from sports complexes countrywide.

The board of directors of one of Turkey s most successful soccer clubs on Saturday decided to change the home ground s name to Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex Turk Telekom Stadium as of May 29. The last word in the name of the Istanbul club s stadium previously had been Arena reports Efe.

Erdogan announced on Friday that the word arena was to be dropped from all stadiums across the country.

I am against arenas . You know what they do in arenas don t you? People were dismembered there (by animals) Erdogan said.

I have given the instruction to the (sports) minister and we will remove the name arena from stadiums. There is no such thing in our language. Look at the definition; there cannot be such a thing he added.

Erdogan s order also affects other major Turkish football clubs such as Besiktas whose home ground is Vodafone Arena.

--IANS
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