A la Turk

Grand scandal in Turkish football has overstepped the bounds of the national football scene. The scale of the exposures may cause tectonic shifts throughout the football economy of the country, spreading into the political sphere and the business environment.

The president of the champion side Fenerbahçe, Aziz Yıldırım, has been jailed, as well as the vice-president and financial director of Fenerbahçe FC, the presidents of Sivasspor FC and Giresunspor FC, the ex-president of Diyarbakırspor FC, the sports director of Eskişehirspor FC, the famous football player Ümit Karan, Turkish national team players Serdzhan Dzhalik and Serdar Kulbilge and Nigerian striker Emanuel Emenike.

In recent days Fenerbahçe's shares have lost 30 % of their value.  "Fenerbahçe has lost 317 million dollars" the newspaper «Haberturk» reports . Before the scandal, Fenerbahçe was estimated to be worth $1.1 billion . The newspaper notes that the financial losses of Fenerbahçe exceed the net worth of two leading Turkish clubs - Trabzonspor and Beşiktaş, estimated to be worth $267 million and $234 million respectively.

Sponsorship contracts between Turkish clubs and well-known firms are under threat.

A contract between a company producing cars and Beşiktaş FC for $3 million may be cancelled. Fenerbahçe may lose $3.7 million in a deal with the mobile operator that is thhe main sponsor of the club, the newspaper «Soviet Sports» reports. 

Erdogan has already demanded that the power structures should carefully investigate all the circumstances of the case and take strict measures if any part of the charges proves to be true. Aziz Yıldırım has practically no chance of avoiding responsibility. The Tiurkish police possess data about phone negotiations and testimonial evidence of a specific character. For example, a person involved in the situation asked a mullah if the bribe the president of Fenerbahçe was ready to give him was charitable. 

The situation is not comical. According to the recently adopted law «On the Prevention of Violence and Disorders at Sports Events», persons caught in "football frauds" are subject to imprisonment for a term of between five and twelve years. Meanwhile, Aziz Yıldırım refuses to get in contact with the investigators.

To be continued

Alexei Vlasov, exclusively for VK