Uğur Boral

Uğur Boral — Biography

Uğur Boral was born in Tokat on 14 April 1982; he started in amateur football in the mid-1990s, turning professional at Alibeyköyspor in 2001. He played for Kocaelispor in 2002-03 and Gençlerbirliği from 2003 to 2006, making 63 official appearances and scoring 10 goals with 5 assists there. A naturally left-footed playmaker, he joined Fenerbahçe at the start of the 2006-07 season, wore the number 25 shirt, and scored twice on his Champions League bow against CSKA Moscow; with Fenerbahçe he won the league in 2007 and 2011 and the Turkish Super Cup in 2007 and 2009. He signed a five-month deal with Samsunspor in early 2012, then joined Beşiktaş on a three-year contract that same year, retiring there in 2015.

Called up to the national team in 2006, Boral was part of Turkey's Euro 2008 squad and scored his only international goal in the semi-final against Germany, the match that ended Turkey's run in the tournament. After the July 2016 coup attempt he was accused of ties to the Gülen movement; he reportedly became a state's witness in December 2017, was sentenced in January 2020 to 27 months in prison for membership of an armed terrorist organization, and in March 2023 received a further sentence alongside other defendants in a related "football structuring" trial.