The country’s top division of football has been hit hard financially due to the weakened Turkish Lira against the Euro and United States dollar.
It is no secret that Turkish football clubs are drowning in debt. However, the latest report from UEFA detailing the financial issues which plague Turkish football has shed light on just how serious the situation at hand is.
The Turkish Super Lig’s finances have taken a hard hit last year with a loss to tune of €263 million, according to UEFA.
In the 11th editionof the European Club Footballing Landscape report published by UEFA on January 16, European football’s governing body provides a detailed breakdown including data on the financial performances of clubs and economic structures of leagues from all across Europe during the 2018 financial year.
“The relatively high financing costs of Turkish and Italian clubs continue to absorb a sizable percentage of club revenues, with total net non-operating costs equivalent to 29 percent and 7 percent of revenue respectively. In Turkey this trend is mainly driven by the recent devaluation of the Turkish Lira: foreign exchange losses of €125 million hit Turkish clubs in FY2018 even harder than in FY2017 (€73m),”the report explained.
Clubs from the English Premier League generated €382 million in profit to top the list.
Salary expenses of Turkish Super Lig clubs also increased by 36 percent, recording the highest wage growth of football players among all European leagues in 2018.
“Wages increased in 17 of the top 20 leagues, with only Austria, the Netherlands and Greece reporting a decrease in wages, albeit a marginal decrease for the first two,” the report says.
Not surprisingly, the report lists Turkey’s top three clubs — Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Besiktas — among the top 20 teams in Europe which have suffered the highest net debt.
Fenerbahce, who are the most indebted Turkish team, are ranked 6th with €334 million net debt, Besiktas are ranked 15th with €183 million net debt while Galatasaray ranked 17th place with €175 million net debt.
According to the report, Russian football clubs Rostov and Ural Yekaterinburg, PAOK and Olympiacos from Greece, FC Barcelona of Spain, Italian club Lazio and Turkey’s Fenerbahce “all saw their aggregate attendance figures increase by more than 6,000.”
In addition, Turkish football clubs showed a great increase in gate receipts by 52 percent while Istanbul Basaksehir led the list with a total of 158 percent increase in this category.
Galatasaray became the only Turkish club to rank in the list among the top 30 clubs for their average income per match attendee.
The Lions recorded an average of €37 per paying attendee to be in the 30th spot in this category.
To see the entire 132-page report, click here.
