Once seen as a place for an aging star on the negative side of his career, Turkey’s Super Lig has emerging as a serious player in the transfer market – even in recent years a football financial powerhouse is rivaling Saudi Arabia.
Istanbul’s “Big Three” – Galatasarai, Fanarbahe and Basiktas are allowing the stars to find stars in the form of Victor Osimen, Leroy San and Jhone Duran.
Super Lig Champion Galatasare, who had Osimen on a loan last season, has now agreed to pay € 75 million ($ 87 million) for permanent transfer of the Nigerian striker. It is not only the most expensive signature in Turkish football history, but is the third most expensive transfer of current transfer window globally. Galatasare has to pay a net annual salary of € 21 million to Osimhene, while German International Sane has recently been signed from Bavaria Munich, earning € 12 million per year.
On the loan from Saudi Club Al-Nasar, the new striker of Fanarbahe, Jhone Duran, will allegedly earn close to € 20 million annual nets annually. In January, Al-Nasar is asked to earn € 15 million per year to his former team Anderson Taliska, who joined Fanarbes.
But Galaratasarai, Fanarbahe, and Basictus are printed on record-breaking signing despite high debt burden and despite being located in the financially struggling country.
The joint debt of trio and trabzonespore – widely seen as Turkey’s fourth largest club – is believed to have € 1 billion, as their revenue has decreased to cover their expenditure.
‘bread and circuses’
Some believe that the government clearly supports increased expenses, as signing a high profile in this football crazy country makes the task of removing attention from problems such as high inflation and plumstates.
Sports columnist Ozgen told DW, “It can be interpreted as part of an attempt to distribute public anger during an economic crisis, to distribute public anger during an economic crisis, and keep the clubs under part of the effort to keep the clubs under an economic crisis.”
“We are living through a local version of ‘Panam at Circulation’, or a local version of bread and circus politics,” Ozgen said, who writes for Birgun, one of the remaining opposition daints in the print in Turkey.
Ozgen is not alone in any way in this assessment.
“Football dominates the agenda of poor communities,” Football Economist Tagrul Akars told DW.
“People who cannot even take the risk of bringing a bread home are watching transfer news throughout the day,” explained by the founder of Turkey’s only website futbobonomi.com dedicated to reporting on the professional side of football.
As a result, most fans are focused on signing a large name, not the financial burden associated with the subject.
A galatasare fan told DW, “The Turkish League has a fierce competition between us and our archives Fanarbis.
“Big signatures give us a psychological edge on our rivals.”
Türkiye’s more than 90% of football fans support one of the Big Three, giving them heavy political clots. His huge fan Aadhaar represents a powerful “vote bank”, often appointed by governments, including President Recep Tayip Erdogan’s ruling party, AKP.
In recent years, the three clubs have received enough state support in effigies to promote their revenue. Supported by approval by the Capital Markets Board of Türkiye – which works under the Treasury and Finance Ministry – has repeatedly issued new shares to raise capital from investors. Meanwhile, their loans have been restructured through loan agreements with public banks.
“Large clubs in Türkiye have long worked with close ties with the state,” told DW, Professor of Sociology Ahmat Talimsiller at the University of Bakirke in Izmi.
“Because their debts are written or forgive from time to time, they keep giving expensive signs with hesitation.”
Discourage fan participation in anti -government protests
In 2022, the government introduced a law, stating that it was to prevent clubs from borrowing racles. This law provides for serious sanctions, including clauses that allow prison punishment for officers running their clubs. However, the law, which allows clubs to borrow up to only 10% of their previous years, has never been applied.
Many believe that the ruling party uses this law as a stick against football clubs and fan groups to control them.
In the Turkish past, fan groups often took to the streets during protest, especially the GEZI performance against the 2013 Gezi performance. Until some time ago, the stadiums were among the few places where fans could openly express dissatisfaction.
However, no mantra of dissatisfaction has been given in the stadiums since the March arrest of the main opposition CHP Party President Ekrem Imamoglu. Fan groups have been notablely discontinued from the increased road protests with the arrest of Imamoglu.
According to CHP legalist Mustafa Ediguzel, this is not an accident. He told DW that the ruling AKP has signed a deal with Big Three, in which he agrees to keep his groups of fans in line instead of looking at the players of his fans on the players.
“The government, which uses the auditing of clubs as a reward-and-enhance mechanism, is effective, provides club management to control the stand,” Edgujel told DW.
For Ozgen, the government’s “stick” pushes not only to the club officials in line, but also fans into self-sensorship. He pointed to mandatory electronic ticketing systems of viceolig and stadium cameras, as equipment used to create “politics-free stand”.
Economist Acres believes that if the law was implemented, many club authorities will face legal action, but permission to borrow excessive borrowings is deliberately allowed.
“Large clubs are motivated to ensure government compliance,” said.
Turkish Sports Ministry has not yet responded to a DW Querry as to how clubs are able to continue borrowing despite the law to curb practice.
Can spending competition continue?
Ozgen sees Big Three as a fantasy of becoming “Saudi Arabia of Europe”, but argues that it is simply disqualified from long -term.
“There is no oil revenue, only debt and bloated wage bill. The difference between income and expenses is largely,” Heer said.
“Broadcasting revenue is shrinking in real terms, matches and merchandising income. Clubs spend in dollars or euros, but earn in Turkey Lira, lose ground with every transfer window.”
Hey indicates a significant difference between Saudi Arabia and Big Three.
“Saudi Arabia follows a state-funded strategy,” he said. “Turkish clubs have close relations with the power of politics, but they do not have the same financial resources.”
Edited by: Chak Penfol
