Earvin Ngapeth, with a closed face, quickly joins the locker room of his new team, Fenerbahçe, after the home defeat against the Germans Giesen (1-3), in the Champions League, Wednesday January 15. This is the third match for the double Olympic champion, who arrived in Istanbul at the beginning of January, from Poitiers.
The former Tourangeau played almost the entire match (17 points), despite being in perfect physical form. Omnipresent, he missed a few serves (71%) and smashes (12/34 on attack), under the eyes of around a hundred spectators. The crowd contrasts with the Frenchman’s last match with Poitiers, against Tours (3-2), Friday December 27, when more than 5,000 people came to cheer him.
“There is a base of around 50 to 60 loyal supporters,” exposes Defne Heybeli, Turkish journalist for Volleyball Magazine. The Fenerbahçe team, with a fairly low average age, was active throughout the match, and even sang in honor of the newcomer. “ We are really happy that he is here, smiles Deniz, from the group “7. Adam” (7e homme). We welcomed him and he came to see us. He is very smiling. »
“The best contract in history”
Fenerbahçe fans are divided between the club’s many, impressively versatile sports. Football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, men’s and women’s too, the Yellow and Blue are on all fronts thanks to their president Ali Koç, one of the richest men in Turkey.
If the French Gabby Williams (women’s basketball) or Allan Saint-Maximin (men’s football) joined Fenerbahçe this summer, the businessman took out the checkbook again to attract Earvin Ngapeth, who felt he deserved “the best contract in history” after the Paris Olympics. We are talking here about a salary of several hundred thousand euros.
Ngapeth plays in front of sparse stands in Istanbul.
© (Photo Victor Fièvre)
Other French champions in Türkiye
The leader of the French team arrives on familiar ground, since he played at Halkbank Ankara last season, where he won the championship cup double. “It’s cool, it makes one more Frenchman”, rejoices Joachim Panou, player from Bursa, who lost to Ngapeth for his first match, Saturday January 4 (3-1).
In addition to the former Parisian, Turkey has two renowned French champions, Trévor Clévenot at Ziraat Bankasi and Jean Patry at Galatasaray, who arrived at the start of the season, first and second in the championship. “With these signings, the prestige of the league is expanding,” note Defne Heybeli. “The big teams respond to each other and outbid each other,” completes Joachim Panou.
A poorly started season
The Turkish championship “is more popular than in France”but in front of sparse stands. “In Türkiye, many only see volleyball on the women’s side, with the success of the national team (European champions in 2023). Many women’s matches are sold out. continues the local specialist. On the Internet, Fenerbahçe players appear before the men, carried by their local star, Melissa Vargas.
The arrival of a big name like Ngapeth aims to rebalance this gap. In Türkiye, the former Alterna Stade Poitevin player is chasing the Champions League, the trophy that is missing from his record. For now, the Istanbul club is in third place in its group, and would not qualify directly for the round of 16. In the championship, it is also mixed with a sixth place. The season is off to a bad start, but Ngapeth’s one and a half year contract gives him time. He will need it, he who is discovering his tenth club, seventeen years after his debut at Tours VB.
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