January 7 – In a move that will re-ignite the club versus country debate and be monitored with interest across Europe, Turkish football authorities have radically reduced limits on overseas imports and will soon allow teams to play with entirely foreign line-ups.
The move by the Turkish Football Federation, which will be implemented from next season, has been taken to try and reduce soaring transfer fees for home-grown players and raise competitiveness.
Currently top league clubs in Turkey are allowed to sign eight foreign players and can name six of them in the 18-man squads. From next term, the clubs will be able to have a total of 28 players in their squads, half of whom can be foreign. For 18-man squads, they can include 11 foreigners.
The right to sign foreign players will be based on strict criteria; clubs will be required to have no tax or insurance debts, unpaid player wages or unpaid fines to FIFA and UEFA.
Just like in so many European countries where domestic talent comes at a premium, prices for Turkish players plus their yearly wages have increased astronomically due to the small number of young players perceived to be of high enough quality. For example, Bursaspor has set an asking price of €12 million for Ozan Tufan, a 19-year-old defensive midfielder who has made his way to the national team.
Galatasaray chairman Duygun Yarsuvat welcomed the move: “I do not think that it is right to forbid foreign players from playing in Turkey through quotas,” he said. His coach Hamza Hamzaoglu said the change would make teams more competitive, and could even benefit Turkey’s beleaguered national side.
Many question whether home-grown players represent sufficient value for money. “I support having no limit on the number of foreign players. We had to spend too much undeserved money on Turkish players because of the limit,” Karabukspor’s manager Tolunay Kafkas, told AlJazeera Turk.
But in equal measure, the move is opposed by those who fear the influx of foreign players will make it harder for Turkish nationals to flourish.
Turkey are languishing fourth in their qualifying group for the 2016 European Championship and well-known Turkish commentator and former referee Ahmet Cakar said: “(This) will mean an end to our hopes of national team success.”
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