[Saba Sports News] According to Italian media, despite Turkey’s early elimination from this summer’s World Cup, the country’s international players will still be gifted seaside villas. Turkey finished the World Cup group stage with one win and two losses, failing to qualify for the knockout rounds, a result that fell short of expectations and left Turkish fans disappointed. However, Ibrahim Hacıosmanoğlu, president of the Turkish Football Federation, stated that he would stick to the pre-World Cup plan of gifting villas to every Turkish player who took part in the tournament. The promise was made by Ibrahim Hacıosmanoğlu before the World Cup kicked off. The villas will be built along the southern coves of the Aegean Sea, an area famous for stunning sea views and ancient ruins. President Ibrahim Hacıosmanoğlu commented: “I will definitely hand over these villas to the players as I promised. We received 14 million US dollars in prize money from FIFA, and we have allocated additional funds on top of that. We will distribute these resources fairly among all players who represented us at the World Cup, and that is final.”
The editor believes that lavish material rewards can never cover up the competitive gap if authorities only focus on superficial gestures instead of addressing fundamental issues.