growing in quality but the recent armed attack of a Fenerbahce player’s car has tempered the anticipation of the start of the season
Robin van Persie and Nani may lead the way as far as star signings go, both joining Fenerbahce from Manchester United on huge salaries, but the proper football season will kick off under a huge cloud after the same club’s midfielder Mehmet Topal was shot at by unknown gunmen while in his car after training at the Samandira Can Bartu ground on Tuesday.
Fortunately the glass used in his Mercedes G63 was strong enough to stop the bullet going further and thus saving the two players’ lives (Topal was travelling with the youth player Uygar Mert Zeybek). Fenerbahce denounced the attack as an act of terrorism in a statement released shortly afterwards, saying: “This was a terrorist attack. We condemn these armed attacks on our players and hope justice will prevail.”
Remarkably, it was not the first time that Topal had been the victim of a gun attack. Last April Topal was also travelling in the Fenerbahce team bus that was attacked on its way to the Trabzon airport following their 5-1 away win at Caykur Rizespor. Somehow only the driver of the bus, Ufuk Kiran, was injured and had it not been for his quick reactions in hitting the brakes the vehicle could have careered off the highway resulting in a potential massacre.
The Turkish football federation reacted to the incident by suspending Super Lig and Turkish Cup matches for a week but the assailants have still not been found. Neither have the gunmen involved in the latest shooting incident.
Hooliganism is a problem and the Turkish football federation has taken measures to combat the problem. Away fans are banned from major derbies and the controversial Passolig scheme – an e-ticketing system that has replaced paper tickets in Turkey – was implemented last season. Fans must register their details and the operator claims this process will make identifying and banning individuals easier. The system has, however, been taken to court by the non-governmental organisation Supporter Rights Solidarity Centre (Taraf-Der) who argue the measures are unethical and raise security concerns regarding the selling of private data. The system has flaws but it is an attempt by the federation at eliminating unwanted elements from the country’s football landscape.
In fact violence in the stands has reduced and incidents were few and far between last season. The latest attacks occurred off the field but had either ended in fatalities it would have been even more damaging to Turkish football. The authorities must find the culprits of the latest attacks not simply to make an example of them but to discover what their motives were and how future incidents can be prevented. Third time lucky may not apply if another armed attack was to take place.
After all Van Persie was the second highest paid player in the Premier League, earning £250,000 per-week, and still had a year left on his contract. He sold the most shirts in the Premier League for the 2012-13 as well as the 2013-14 seasons and has more Twitter followers than Fenerbahce and United.
The surprising thing is that these transfers will not drastically stretch Fenerbahce’s budget. Turkish sides benefit from lenient tax regulations set at 15% which is considerably lower than most major leagues in Europe but the major clubs in Turkey wield considerable financial muscle. Galatasaray regularly feature in the Deloitte top 20 money league and Fenerbahce were in the 2014 edition. Nani cost £4.3m and Van Persie is expected to fetch £4.7m. In total Fenerbahce have made approximately £22.9m worth of transfers so far this summer which is not considerably more than the £21m spent over the 2013-14 season and that was without European football.
Fenerbahce have a number of powerful backers with perhaps the most influential being Ali Koc who belongs to one of the wealthiest families in Turkey – and is tipped to become the club president in the future. Fenerbahce also recently struck a £57.5m stadium naming-rights deal with Yildiz Holding and Turkish Airlines will be the official shirt sponsor for European games this season. They boast millions of fans worldwide, have a 50,000-seater stadium in the heart of the Kadikoy district on the Asian side of Istanbul and, as with most major Turkish clubs, operate in multiple sports disciplines including basketball, volleyball and rowing.
Fenerbahce are not alone in the transfer game. Galatasaray turned heads when they snapped up Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba in 2013. Besiktas brought in Mario Gómez over the summer, Trabzonspor signed the Europa League winner Stephan M’bia and even the newly-promoted Antalyaspor got in on the act with the capture of Samuel Eto’o. The warm welcome they received from the fervent fans is all part of the attraction of being a big name in the Super Lig. If it is love, devotion and a cult following a player is after Turkey is indeed the perfect destination.
Turkish football is still finding its feet, compared to most of Europe, having been in the wilderness just 20 years ago. Two decades on Turkish football is not yet a force to challenge the traditional establishment but significant gains have been made. Galatasaray won the Uefa Cup in 2000, Turkey finished the 2002 World Cup in third place and were 2008 European championship semi-finalists. The Super Lig has finally started to produce players of a high enough calibre to attract interest from Spain, Germany and England. Arda Turan just completed a £24m move to Barcelona. The 18-year-old wonderkid Enes Unal recently moved to Manchester City.
Batuhan Altintas was snapped up by HSV last month and Roma acquired the 21-year-old Salih Ucan last season. A combination of closing the footballing knowledge gap with western Europe and increased TV rights revenues have also been a game-changer. The Super Lig broadcast rights have rapidly increased from £4.65m in 1994 (Turkish Football Federation figures) to £361m, making it the fifth most lucrative league in Europe but it currently only targets a Turkish audience. If the beIN takeover – worth £1bn according to Bloomberg – goes ahead the league could be broadcast to non-Turkish speaking countries and, in the long run, potentially break into the top five in Europe: the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga.
There is a lot to look forward to going into the 2015-16 season but there is also quite a lot to be worried about. Hopefully football, not guns, will be on the agenda next summer.
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