Galatasaray

He signed a contract with Turkish club Galatasaray in January 2005, and went on to help them win the 2005 Turkish Cup by scoring a key goal in a 1-0 victory in the semi-final and scoring a goal and assisting another in a 5-1 win in the final against rivals Fenerbahçe. The Galatasaray fans were impressed with the young Frenchman's skills, and quickly gave him the nicknames, "FerraRibery" and "Scarface".

Galatasaray Controversy

On April 25, 2007, the World Sport's top court dismissed an appeal by Turkish club Galatasary against French international Franck Ribery's move to Marseille in 2005. The Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) said in a statement that Ribery had terminated his contract with the Turkish club on just grounds, and that Galatasaray was not entitled to any compensation. The midfielder had signed a three-and-a-half year deal with the Turkish side in January 2005 before signing up with Marseille just five months later.

Galatasaray had claimed that Ribery was at fault when he broke his contract having not been paid for over four months. The Istanbul side was reportedly claiming 10 million euros in compensation from Marseille. The Turkish club appealed to CAS after football's world governing body FIFA dismissed their case last November.^[1]