Pretend for a moment that the Turkish match-fixing scandal of 2010-11 never happened. Granted, it’s a big ask, but pretension and forgetfulness are an important part of the exercise we’re about to undertake.
Now imagine that the country’s top-flight match ticket prices are affordable, that the stadiums are safe, that the police presence is reassuring and that the Passolig e-ticketing system is popular.
What you’re left with is a passionate football nation of 80 million people—nearly half of whom are between the ages of 25 and 54—who are part of an increasingly dynamic economy that, thanks to construction and electronics industries and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, grows at three percent or more annually.
According to the Wall Street Journal, last month’s first-quarter results revealed a considerable jump in consumer spending in Turkey despite both a slowdown in exports and political volatility following the general election. (Outlays in the face of uncertainty become an increasingly prominent theme as we go on.)
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By 2023, when it marks the centenary of its Republic, Turkey hopes to be a fully functional member of the European Union with one of the top 10 economies in the world. And its football, which is our focus, will no doubt be hauled along for the ride as controversial president Recep Tayyip Erdogan strives to realize his vision.
In this instance there’s no need to pretend that very vocal, credible calls for the Turkish Football Federation’s international suspension as a result of the scandal and further, widespread corruption aren’t coming from within the country.
It’s not that they’re going unheard; they simply don’t matter. Football’s growth in the region is intrinsically tied to its vibrancy in Turkey. And the government, so often struggling to navigate the east-west divide that shapes it, is happy to use soccer as a vehicle for engaging greater Europe.
That’s not to say the country’s football establishment shouldn’t be cleaned up, or its structure razed and another installed in its place. It’s just that the power-brokers who run Turkish football continue to do what they were put there to do: make money. And so long as the money comes in they’re not going anywhere.
Take Aziz Yildirim as an example. The Fenerbahce chairman was arrested in the spring of 2011 after his club was charged with fixing 12 matches en route to the title. He’s still the chairman, and given the Istanbul outfit’s sporting and commercial success under his watch he won’t be out of a job anytime soon.
Since assuming office in 1998 Yildirim has celebrated six titles, a Champions League quarterfinal and a Europa League semifinal. He has also negotiated a lucrative kit deal with Adidas worth $42.5 million US over five years and in 2009 saw Fenerbahce become the first Turkish club to crack the prominent Deloitte Football Money League with the sport’s 19th-best annual income.
City rivals Galatasaray were the Super Lig’s representative in the most recent ranking, with revenue comparable to that of Serie A giants Napoli and Inter Milan. Like Fenerbahce they have a big-money shirt deal—with Nike—and an impressive stable of sponsors that includes the likes of Microsoft, Opel and Turkish Airlines.
Fifteen seasons of Champions League football has also boosted their spending power, which has recently been on display with the acquisitions of World Cup-winner Lucas Podolski, Troyes defender Lionel Carole and former Akhisar Belediyespor midfielder Bilal Kisa, who was one of Turkish football’s top playmakers last term.
But their transfer activity has paled in comparison to that of Fenerbahce, who have so far signed Nani and Robin van Persie from Manchester United, Simon Kjar from Lille, Josef de Souza from Sao Paulo and Fernandao from Atletico Paranaense.
The latter, who spent last season on loan at Bursaspor, led the Super Lig in scoring with 22 goals in 2014-15—four more than former Besiktas striker Demba Ba.
If the question “How does Turkish football afford its high-profile, foreign players?” accompanies these outlays, the answer is primarily found in the sponsorship revenue enabled by the purchasing power explained off the top.
Still, the exposure of the Champions League is absolutely vital, and to that end Fenerbahce will face Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg of a third-round qualifier this week. Galatasaray are already assured of their place in the group stage, and both require round-of-16 appearances, or extended runs in the Europa League, to maintain their profiles and ensure the money continues to flow.
But even then there are growing concerns that the match-fixing scandal and persistent allegations of corruption could alienate sponsors.
In January the Yildiz Holding group, which had partnered with both Fenerbahce and Galatasaray, as well as the Turkish national team through its Ulker brand, pulled its support, citing corruption, the influx of non-Turkish players and Passolig, which it described as a “disturbing” mechanism for collecting personal information.
It may have been a one-off decision by a single, disgruntled sponsor or, as some have suggested, the first frayed thread in a great unravelling. In the sponsorship world disrepute, which leads to irrelevance, makes for risky association.
At the moment, however, attention is fixed on the Super Lig’s latest acquisitions. And it will remain so as long as sporting and commercial success outweigh the scandals and systemic problems.
This is the line Turkish football walks—balanced by convenient pretension and forgetfulness on one side and money and ambition on the other.
Jerrad Peters is a Winnipeg-based writer. Follow him on Twitter