Thank you for making time to meet with us, Isitan!

Lees de Nederlandse versie van het interview hier

Fortuna Online (FO): Firstly, how are you doing? Still enjoying the Netherlands?

Işitan Gün (IG): “I’m doing well, thank you. I am still living in Amsterdam, but today (21 March 2025, FO) I’m in Istanbul. So, I am doing lots of travel. But yes, I’m doing well.”

FO: This is your nineth year as president of Fortuna Sittard. Paul Boels holds the record at 13.5 years. Are you fancying that record?

IG: “I am in constant contact with Paul and enjoy his wisdom and passion for Fortuna a lot. I don’t think I’ll break the record, but we will see.”

FO: The first two seasons under your presidency, Fortuna played in de Eerste Divisie; the last seven in de Eredivisie. We are currently eighth, which is only one spot below the club’s record performance [Fortuna finished seventh in the Eredivisie three times, FO]. What is the most important reason for this success on the pitch?

IG: “We have similar budgets to other clubs outside the top six. So, this is ultimately a sportive question. We did several things well. In the last two years, Américo Branco has been doing a great job. I think he has huge potential in football. After the publicly-known challenges that Principion faced, we had to recruit players without paying any significant transfer fees. With that in mind, Branco has done and is doing quite well.”

“Add to that, the coach. Danny Buijs is a good coach. So that combination is a winning combination, for our level.”

“Talking about good performance, one of the best performing departments of our club is the academy. I don’t think the Fortuna community is paying enough attention to that. There is structure, there is stability, teams are achieving promotion. Our U17 and U19 teams have so much potential, I think in a few years the academy will generate talents to the first team. It won’t happen overnight, but the academy is on a good trajectory.”


Branco is Fortuna’s technical manager

FO: However, all that glitters is not gold. Since Fortuna’s promotion to the Eredivisie in 2018 total debt has increased from 2.4M to 24.1M at the end of the 2022/23 season, improving last season to 21.2M euros. Playing Eredivisie has certainly not made Fortuna rich.

IG: “That is absolutely right.”

“I’ve always been emphasizing that Fortuna does not have an expense problem; this club has a revenue challenge. A component of that revenue challenge is related to the Netherlands, another part is specific to Fortuna Sittard.”

“Inconsistent government policy is for example a part that relates to the Netherlands. First the government changed its policy to allow betting companies as sponsors (way later than other leagues), then reversing it. I think that Dutch football missed hundreds of millions in revenue while we were deliberating whether betting sponsors should be allowed or not. Betcity is our main sponsor, worth around 1 million euros per season to us. We now lose it, so that is a significant impact.”

“The part that relates to Fortuna refers to our failure to tap into large national or international sponsors. A club’s revenue are three fold: Broadcasting revenues (which is more or less fixed), matchday revenues (we are playing at 95% occupancy rate, so upside is limited) and commercial revenues. Our sponsor base has been growing quite nicely (I believe our business club has more than 350 companies now), but more is needed. Outgoing transfer revenues could have mitigated that problem, but we haven’t been as successful in that department as we might have wanted to be. I’m hoping that this will change in the coming summer, because we have some players that attract interest.”

“Therefore, we must focus on commercial revenues and outgoing transfers. There is no other way.”


Guth is completing his third season with Fortuna Sittard

FO: Given current debt levels (and the majority of it is short-term debt), it matters whether Fortuna’s creditors are sympathetic or less sympathetic to the club. We know the tax office is one of them (corona-related) and Fortuna follows a payment agreement to repay debt over a five year period (ending in October 2027). But more generally, who are the main creditors and what share of total debt is debt to shareholders of Fortuna (i.e., you and Principion)?

IG: “We indeed have an agreement with the tax office to repay the Corona-related debt, as many other clubs do. As for debt to shareholders, the shareholders wrote off part of their debt in the 2023/24 season and shareholders will write off the remainder of that debt in the 2024/25 season. Together, outstanding corona debt and shareholder debt account for close to half of total debt.”

“Then there is debt to other clubs. In the summer of 2022, we attracted players such as Rodrigo Guth, Úmaro Embaló and Rémy Vita, for whom we agreed to pay a transfer fee. It is common practice in football, that transfer fees are not paid in full at the signing of the contract, rather are spread over the course of the contract of the player. These players have ongoing contracts at Fortuna, so there is still some repayment outstanding.”

“The remainder of the debt consists of commercial bank loans, like any other business.”

FO: Is the debt situation sustainable?

IG: “In my opinion, yes. Obviously, my incentives are certainly aligned with those of the club! It is not in my interest or in any shareholder’s interest to reach an unsustainable situation.”

“Fortuna’s debt position is not a pleasant situation, of course. I’m open about that. However, stating the obvious [that there is a challenge, FO] does not help anyone, we need to create solutions.”

FO: To prevent further debt accumulation, it seems, Fortuna needs to bring its salary costs in line with revenues. In the season 2021/22 salary costs were 8.1M. The year after (2022/23) salary costs increased to 13.5M. The Principion investment in the team explains that growth (Burak Yilmaz, Inigo Córdoba, Doğan Erdoğan, Rodrigo Guth, Umaro Embalo, plus Julio Velázquez and his assistants). The year after that (2023/24), Burak Yilmaz, Doğan Erdoğan plus Julio Velázquez and his assistants left, but salary costs only dropped to 12.8M.

IG: “Some of the salary costs crossed over into the new financial year, so that explains why the salary cost in the 2023/24 financial year did not fall as much as you might have expected. Also, don’t forget that we started ‘Fortuna Vrouwen’ in the financial year 2022/23, which continued into the 2023/24 financial year.”


Erdoğan played one season for Fortuna Sittard

FO: Is it reasonable to assume then that salary costs will have dropped further in the 2024/25 season?

IG: “Yes it is, once we present the results for the year 2024/25 you will see that salary costs have dropped further.”

“However, there is a limit to how far salary costs can drop. Let us do a back-of-the-envelope calculation. Assume, Fortuna achieves turnover of 13 million euros. If we further assume a 60% salary-cost-to-turnover ratio, that means salary costs are 7.8 million euro. That includes the men and women’s first team plus technical staff, academy staff and office staff. If that’s how much you spend on wages, it’s quite a challenge and we must keep performing on the field.”

“If you look at our office staff, we must have one of the smallest back offices in the Eredivisie. So, the organization is extremely lean and efficient. I don’t think we can cut back further.”

“Of course, that spike in salary costs in 2022/23 was in retrospect not a nice thing, but if you look at next season’s salary budget, there will be little room for further cost cutting. The only option we have, is increasing revenues.”

“Good news of course is that revenues from the new media deal will further increase. The increase will not go into additional salaries, which should help us towards balancing our budget.”

FO: To avoid sanctions, Fortuna need to score two consecutive scores of 16 points in the financial rating system. Fortuna achieved that for the 2023/24 financial year (plus outlook for the 2024/25 year). Are we on track for a similar result for the 2024/25 financial year (plus outlook for 2025/26)?

IG: “Yes, we are on track to produce a similar result for the 2024/25 financial year. We should therefore meet the conditions in ‘the plan of action’ (plan van aanpak) that we wrote (and was approved by the KNVB) to improve our financial position and should hopefully leave ‘enhanced surveillance’ (verscherpt toezicht).”

FO: You have tried twice to sell part of your shares in the club to external parties (Acun Ilıcalı and Principion). In both instances, but for different reasons, no exchange of shares took place. We assume you wanted to bring in new parties who would be willing to provide fresh investments into the club. Given the financial position of the club, the desire for fresh investment is still real.

IG: “Yes, I was back then and am still open now to new shareholders to improve the balance sheet of the club, by making a fresh injection. Now that we are established as a stable Eredivisie club, Fortuna should reach a new plateau, that’s the new objective. Important, in both instances I was not after a transfer of shares for personal gain, but to improve the equity situation of the club.”

“If the right party comes along, which is willing to improve the equity position of the club, then I would welcome discussions.”

FO: Are you actively looking for new investors?

IG: “There is nothing concrete at the moment.”

FO: Principion had ambitious plans with the club in 2022, but those plans did not come to fruition, possibly because of the AFM investigation. That investigation has concluded and cleared Principion of any wrongdoing. Is it likely that Principion will relaunch its ambitions with Fortuna Sittard?

IG: “The AFM investigation is definitely, not possibly, what stopped Principion in its track. Without it, their intention was to become the majority shareholder of Fortuna Sittard.”

“But of course, that did not happen.”

“Principion provided the financial guarantee to protect the professional license of the club during the AFM investigation. I know they are committed to continuing their current support to the club and that is important.”

“However, whether they want to increase their stake in the club, I don’t know. We have not had such discussions yet.”


Principion owners Aytekin and Akpinar

FO: But you will have such a discussion with them in the near future?

IG: “Yes, of course, now that we will start the budgeting for the next season, we will have discussions with Principion about their potential involvement. It is possible that they become a more important player in the club, but again we have not had such discussions.”

FO: Ivo Pfennings left the director role recently. You selected him for the role in 2018 and helped him grow in the role. How do you look back at working with Ivo?

IG: “Initially, I was there to help him settle in the role. Then I left him increasingly more independent. So, it was an honest and extensive delegation, for which he also thanked me. Effectively, he was running the club by himself.”

“He was doing a very good job and we should remember his contributions. He was one of the longest serving directors in Dutch professional football and I believe that he enjoyed it.”

“Then again, for many months now, he has indicated that he wanted to leave. It is a stressful job of course, but he said, I’ve done this job, love it, but it is time for a change.”

“I understand that it was a shock to many people. It was a shock to me as well when he first told me. However, we intended to build a club that is not dependent on one person (not me, not a head coach, not a technical director, not Ivo). So, it is a challenge but also part of the maturing process as a club. Individual contributions are very important of course but performance should not be in jeopardy once individuals depart. It should not be the end of the world for a club.”


Pfennings leaves Fortuna Sittard

FO: You’ll be recruiting a permanent successor. What type of person will you be looking for and are you expecting to have that person in the job per 1 July?

IG: “No, I don’t think we will have a permanent replacement by the start of the new season. We will take our time to find the right candidate. I think it took six to nine months to recruit Ivo. We have a job description, then probably engage an executive human resource company and then conduct interviews. We are not in a rush.

“Since there is so much work with regulators, which is all in Dutch, the new director must be fluent in Dutch.”

FO: Is it likely that you will become more visible in the club until the new director settles in?

IG: “Unlike when Ivo started, we now have a much more established organization. We have several departments, such as operations, marketing and commerce, hospitality, and the sporting side. They all run semi-autonomously, thanks to Ivo’s outstanding work, I must add. Therefore, I don’t think I need to become more involved. Funny thing in football, if you as a shareholder or President are visible, then you hear that there’s too much interference, when you are not that visible, you hear that you are nowhere to be found. I will say that Fortuna should take pride in the fact that professional departments, sportively and administratively, work in great autonomy. We are only there to help and support, if and when needed.”

FO: The search for a successor to shirt sponsor Betcity (contract will expire at the end of the season) is still ongoing?

IG: “We are working on it!”

Thank you for your time, Isitan. We appreciate it!