Turkey’s billion-dollar football economy is edging toward hard times as clubs in the country’s top league are facing a torrent of match-fixing allegations, professionals speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News said. Turkey’s bad record in the black economy is also being displayed on the green pitch, one expert said.

A lack of oversight paves the way for money laundering attempts in the industry that flush the reputation of the leading clubs down the drain, said Tuğrul Akşar, author of a prominent football economy book.

 “Match-fixing allegations in Turkey today are not that different from the Italian football scandal in 2006,” said Akşar, author of “Football Economy” about the Turkish sector published that year.

The scandal in Italy was uncovered by Italian police through phone calls. “All these illegal acts harm the football economy,” said Akşar during a phone interview on Monday.

“Turkish clubs keep losing blood because of such attempts,” said Akşar, talking about the operation launched Sunday morning into match-fixing allegations in Turkish football’s first division. “Everyone, mainly sponsors and advertisers, will step back from teams involved in such scandals.”

The total revenue of the four big clubs – Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray of Istanbul and Trabzonspor of the Black Sea province Tranzonspor – reached 600 million Turkish Liras by the end of last year, according to official figures. Nearly 32 percent of the league’s total comes from broadcasting rights and the figure jumps to 60 percent when the big clubs are considered. Only about 2.5 percent of football club revenue is derived from ticket sales and fan stores.

“It is often stated that Turkey’s football economy has already reached $1 billion,” İbrahim Altınsay, former spokesman of Istanbul’s Beşiktaş, the oldest club in the country, told the Daily News during a phone interview on Monday. He added, however: “No one knows where the money comes from and goes to. The millions of dollars flow with no transparency at all.”

Noting that many clubs in Turkey lack transparency in finance, Altınsay said, “Economically strong executives rule over their clubs like a feudal lords,” without needing much explanation on financial matters of the club.

“It is about more than one team losing and another winning,” he said. “It’s billions of dollars that needs to be accounted for.”

Recalling the 2009 report by the Financial Action Task Force, or FAT, an inter-governmental body that develops and promotes policies to protect the global financial system against money laundering in the game, Aksar said Turkish football suffers from money laundering as well.

“When the reputation of a club is harmed through such attempts and allegations, its legitimate financial income generally decreases over time,” he said. “Unfortunately, money laundering, match fixing and bribery remain as the weakest elements of the Turkish football economy.

“The measures to fight against money laundering, match fixing and bribery fall short,” said Aksar, referring to efforts by the International Federation of Association Football, or FIFA, and the Union of European Football Association, or UEFA, to closely observe Turkey in recent years.

“Betting is another source of financial income that needs to be investigated,” said Aksar, adding that the total amount bet on Turkish football matches reached $1.6 billion by the end of last year. “Only 10 percent of revenue goes to the football clubs. What about the rest?” he said, adding that the booming football economy lacks regulation and supervision.

Fenerbahçe Sports Club Chairman Aziz Yıldırım was the first to be detained in the probe launched Sunday into match-fixing allegations in the Turkish football league. Last year’s title winner Fenerbahçe had sold nearly 30,000 out of 33,000 season tickets for 2011-2012 season. As the team faces the risk of begin relegated from the league due to the allegations, the team might need to refund season ticketholders. Each ticket costs between 750 and 7,450 Turkish Liras.

Beşiktaş inks Toyota sponsorship deal

Beþiktaþ football club has announced an advertising deal with Toyota for the club’s main jersey ads for the next three years. In a statement to the Istanbul Stock Exchange, or ISE, the club said: “The club has signed an advertising deal with Toyota for three years, through the 2013-2014 season,” according to a report from the Anatolian news agency on Monday. Toyota will pay $3 million for each year to the sports club, according to agreement.

Football players earn more, taxed less in Turkey

Despite the millions of dollars that professional football players earn in Turkey, the total amount of taxes they pay falls short compared with other professions, according to figures from Turkey’s Public Disclosure Platform. Selçuk Ýnan, recently transferred to Galatasaray, will receive approximately 8.7 million Turkish Liras from his transfer fee and wages per match in one year. The total amount that Ýnan will pay in tax will be nearly 1.31 million liras while a doctor or an engineer with the same income would be required to pay approximately 3.5 million liras in tax.

Salaries, taxes

Selçuk İnan, Galatasaray player

TOTAL INCOME per year: 8.74 million liras

TAX: 1.31 million liras

Egemen Korkaz, Beşiktaş

TOTAL INCOME per year: 3.53 million liras

TAX: 759,000 liras

Didier Zokoro, Tranzonspor

TOTAL INCOME per year: 3.73 million liras

TAX: 560,235 liras

Emmanuel Emenike, Fenerbahçe

TOTAL INCOME per year: 3.45 million liras

TAX: 517,000 liras