In Turkey’s indebted soccer league, Fenerbahce SK just bet the house on Robin van Persie.
The Istanbul club agreed to pay as much as US$6.2 million a year for the former Manchester United striker last week. While entry to the UEFA Champions League, the sport’s most lucrative club tournament, would pay at least twice Van Persie’s keep, failure risks inflating debt that has jumped to US$184 million from US$1 million in four years.
Fenerbahce are not the only high rollers in Turkey. Half of the most debt-laden clubs in the Stoxx European Football index are Turkish, reflecting the growing disconnect between the stakes that the nation’s clubs are paying and their success in the biggest competitions. Turkey’s only side ever to win a European trophy is Galatasaray — also the only Turkish team so far to reach the lucrative group stage of next season’s Champions League. They signed World Cup winner Lukas Podolski from Arsenal this year.
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“Galatasaray are buying because Fenerbahce are buying, and Fenerbahce are buying because Galatasaray are buying,” said Emre Deliveli, an Istanbul-based consultant for Roubini Global Economics. “It is what economists would call a war of attrition.”
Unlike the English Premier League, whose top three teams are guaranteed Champions League group-stage entry, Turkey’s Super Lig winner is the only automatic entrant.
Fenerbahce were pipped to the title by Galatasaray last season, meaning the club needs to win playoffs against two more European teams to reach the group stage. They were banned from entering the competition between 2011 and last year — a period that coincides with rapid debt accumulation — because of match-fixing allegations that the club denies.
Fenerbahce did not respond to requests for comment by telephone and e-mail. Club president Aziz Yildirim earlier this month told Milliyet newspaper that he was trimming long-term liabilities by letting some players leave.
That is not the only way clubs can balance their books. Besiktas JK, also an Istanbul team, signed a US$145 million sponsorship deal with Vodafone Group PLC’s Turkish unit in 2013. Fenerbahce are negotiating a US$100 million 10-year deal with Yildiz Holding AS’ confectionery brand Ulker over naming rights for their stadium.
Fenerbahce had US$4.1 million in cash available at the time of their last filing in February. A place in the Champions League is worth at least US$13 million to teams.
Debt for Turkish clubs looks “unsustainable,” said Tugrul Aksar, a soccer economist in Istanbul, who writes for financial newspaper Dunya.
“The logic of paying for current transfers with future performance is flawed,” Aksar said.
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