It took "lots of cash and a government tax perk to lure" footballers such as Didier Drogba to Istanbul, according to Finkel & Ant of BLOOMBERG. Turkey's clubs may "soon be lacking both." Turkey Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said that he would "eliminate the privileged 15 percent flat tax" for football players, forcing them to pay the 35% rate "applicable to others in their income group instead." The proposal is the "latest blow to a league spending beyond its means while battling allegations of match fixing, budgetary impropriety and tax favoritism." Drogba's former agent during his season and a half at Galatasaray, Ceylan Caliskan, said, "If the government hikes this to 35 percent or so, the players won't come because the clubs' budgets are not fit to shoulder the increase. Players want to have big money to come to a place like this from top leagues." While Turkish clubs have been offering such money -- Galatasaray gave Drogba a base salary of $%M -- regulators "suggest they're not in a position financially to do so." Short-term borrowing by Turkish teams has "dwarfed that of even major European rivals, while their incomes and cash positions pale in comparison." Galatasaray has $112M in debt "coming due in the next 12 months." That is "more than four times as much" as ManU reported in its most recent filing (BLOOMBERG, 10/23).
