Pekintaş Becomes Back Jersey Sponsor of Our Football Academies“

‘’Our pioneer of Turkish sports, Galatasaray, has signed a sponsorship agreement with Pekintaş Group, one of the country’s leading holdings, known for its visionary investments in the construction and industrial sectors.”

Under the agreement, Pekintaş Group has become the back jersey sponsor of the Galatasaray Football Academy teams for the 2025–2026 season.

The launch ceremony, held at the Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex Rams Park, was attended by Galatasaray Sports Club President Dursun Aydın Özbek, Board Member Fatih Demircan, Chairman of the Board of Pekintaş Group Özhan Olcay, and Pekintaş Group Board Member Defne Olcay.

“An Investment in the Foundations of Football”

Galatasaray Sports Club President Dursun Aydın Özbek made the following remarks regarding the sponsorship agreement:

“I extend my respects to you all. Today, we are here to sign a sponsorship agreement related to our academy. Sponsoring football academies and supporting grassroots football is extremely important. The football community, which has grown into a very large economic structure, is in great need of such support.

As Galatasaray, our vision—and the mission entrusted to us by Mr. Ali Sami Yen—is to instill a love of football in young people, educate them in this field, and bring them into Turkish sports and Turkish football. This is our unwavering mission. While doing so, given Galatasaray’s greatness, its roots in a culture spanning more than 500 years, and its emergence as a sports club born from this heritage, we have a responsibility to remain committed to these missions. Therefore, the agreement we are signing today is extremely valuable. Its value stems from being an investment in the foundations.”

“Dear Özhan’s father, Özkan Bey, is my senior from school, and I had the opportunity to work with him. He is a very important figure who was raised within Galatasaray. He has served Turkish sports and Galatasaray and has always maintained his close relationship with the club. He is someone who loves and follows Galatasaray deeply.

We once worked together on the Galatasaray Island project. He took out his notebook and opened it—there were notes dating back many years related to Galatasaray Island. During our efforts to bring Galatasaray Island back to the club, we benefited greatly from the notes Özkan Bey had taken. He made major contributions to football both as a Galatasaray supporter and as an executive.

Now, the flag has been taken over by my brother Özhan. This sponsorship is very valuable. I thank my brother Özhan for his interest in this matter, and I also thank our daughter Defne for supporting this initiative as a Board Member. I would especially like to extend my sincere thanks to Özkan Bey and Pekintaş Group for their support of the Galatasaray Sports Club’s youth academy. I kindly ask that this support continue in the future.”

WE ARE SETTING A PRECEDENT AS AN ACADEMY

Fatih Demircan, Member of the Board of Galatasaray Sports Club, expressed:

“First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Pekintaş family, who are investing in and contributing to the future of Galatasaray, for being with us here today. Upon visiting Mr. Özhan and shared our vision, asking whether he would be willing to invest in Galatasaray’s future and support us, he told us, without turning us down, that he would be happy to be part of this. I would therefore like to thank him once again for his support. As an academy, given that we are a club focused on development, we believe that the investments made here are both appropriate and highly valuable. At the same time, we are achieving a first as an academy. Until now, we had a main chest sponsor. Subsequently, we signed a sleeve sponsorship agreement under the RAMS umbrella. Today, we are also finalizing our back sponsorship agreement. I sincerely hope that our academy will continue to engage with such sponsors in the future. This is of great value and significance for us. It is a source of great pride for us to be carrying out such initiatives in line with the vision of our President. I would like to extend my thanks once again and present my respects.’’

‘’MANY MORE OSIMHENS AND ICARDIS WILL BE RAISED”

Pekintaş Group Chairman of the Board Özhan Olcay expressed: 

“Mr. President, my esteemed elder, Dursun President—whom we all regard as the father of the Galatasaray family—my brother Fatih, the Galatasaray family, distinguished members of the press, and our valued guests, I would like to extend my warmest welcome to you all.

Galatasaray is a school, an institution, a vision, and a culture. For more than 500 years, it has blended these values and has represented our country in the best possible manner in sports and in many other fields, standing as a great civil society organization.”

Today, we have come together for the sponsorship and support agreement of Galatasaray’s youth teams, which operate across 19 different age groups with the aim of developing athletes for the first team and the national team. We would like to first express our gratitude to the Galatasaray community, our love and our passion, for entrusting the Pekintaş community with this responsibility. I would also like to once again pledge that we will fulfill this duty in the best possible manner and do whatever is required to do so.  

“Across a wide spectrum ranging from the U14 to U19 age groups, we have no doubt, nor even the slightest hesitation, that many young athletes trained at the football schools to be established at Galatasaray’s Kemerburgaz Campus in the new Kemerburgaz will develop into many future Osimhens and Icardis, and will inspire the 

millions who are passionate about Galatasaray by having them sing ‘Aşkın Olayım.’ On this occasion, I would also like to emphasize the importance of youth development, underlining that a football Academy, indeed, a football factory, is the foundation of Galatasaray Sports Club’s sustainable future. As Pekintaş Holding, which has been operating for nearly 70 years, we are committed to continuing our efforts to produce, to add value to our country, to protect these values, to serve society, and to support sports.

“I wish Galatasaray’s youth teams a highly successful season filled with many matches free from injury, where those who truly deserve it and who give their utmost effort are rewarded; matches in which victories are achieved without losing values, and even in defeat, important gains are made. I would like to conclude my remarks by once again thanking our esteemed President and my brother Fatih.”

Defne Olcay, Member of the Board of Directors of Pekintaş Group, stated:
“As Pekintaş, we feel responsible not only in production but in every field that adds value to society. For us, success is not limited to production; our priority is to contribute to Turkey in every step where we touch society, sports, and young people. We believe in the importance of investing in youth development for the future of Turkish sports. With this vision, we view the support we provide to young athletes in Galatasaray’s academy as an investment in the future of Turkish football. Today, I am also personally pleased to attend this ceremony on behalf of Özkan Olcay and my grandfather, as the third-generation representative of Pekintaş Holding. I wish our team outstanding success in the new season.”