The topic of football match broadcasting tenders has been on the agenda for some time...

TRT has acquired broadcasting rights for Turkish teams in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Conference League matches. It will broadcast the matches of Turkish teams on TRT 1 and TRT Sport without encryption for three seasons.

This was a necessary development... I've seen people asking, "Where does TRT get the money for this?" We have repeatedly written about the absurd amounts of money TRT spends on nonsensical productions. You would be astonished. Therefore, public broadcasting aimed at the general population at least somewhat alleviates the burden on citizens. The tender process is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

More than who wins the tender, I care about which entity will provide the most financial support to Turkish football clubs and offer free services to Turkish football fans. TRT would easily cover the discussed figures with sponsorship deals and could even turn a profit.

For many years, the broadcasting rights of football matches that brought Turkish football fans together were owned by beIN Media Group LLC, owned by Qatari businessman Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who also owns Paris Saint-Germain FC. After the broadcast rights went through Cine5 and Teleon, Digiturk won the tender during the mid-season of 2000-2001 with an annual offer of 165 million dollars. It secured the rights to broadcast league matches for five seasons, and the matches began to be aired on LigTV.

As I wrote in my book "Şaki" and on OdaTV, it's worth reminding today that BeinSport has been profiting from Turkish football for years.

It's beneficial to explain...

The 2017 report of the Court of Accounts on the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (SDIF) laid everything bare.

To collect a debt of 455 million dollars from the Çukurova Group, SDIF seized 10 companies belonging to the group, including Digiturk, in 2013. SDIF made a share purchase agreement with Nasser Al-Khelaifi's beIN Media Group on June 30, 2015. The final sale price of Digiturk dropped from 1 billion 108 million 799 thousand dollars to 937 million 799 thousand dollars. At that time, Digiturk had foreign partners, and the share remaining for SDIF after the sale was calculated to be a maximum of 292 million 199 thousand dollars (the remaining amount after deducting debts to partners and other liabilities), equivalent to 850 million Turkish Liras with the exchange rate of that day (2.91 TL).

At this point, something happened... beIN Media Group deducted 44 million 578 thousand dollars from the first installment of 153 million 479 thousand dollars it was supposed to pay to the fund, citing Digiturk's unpaid tax-like financial liabilities from the past. For the second installment of 138 million 719 thousand dollars, it made a deduction of 30 million 917 thousand dollars again due to similar tax and financial liabilities. SDIF did not object to this.

THE COURT OF ACCOUNTS DID NOT LET IT GO

The Court of Accounts asked SDIF, "Why was this deduction made? Based on what document? Show it to me." However, SDIF did not respond. The Court of Accounts continues to ask.

There was also a deduction in advertising revenues, which should have left 1 million 526 thousand dollars more to the fund if the Super League naming rights were sold to third parties. That's 77 million dollars in total!

When Digiturk was sold to the Qataris, it declared a Special Communication Tax (SCT) debt of 135 million dollars according to the exchange rate on the contract day, amounting to 399 million TL. The contract stated that the buyer would pay this debt. Bein Media did not pay the debt, and an interest of 22 million TL was accrued, making the debt 422 million TL. When a tax amnesty was declared, the company rushed to the tax office. The debt of 422 million TL was reduced to 258 million TL. The company presented receipts to SDIF, claiming it had paid the debt. How much was paid? 258 million TL, right? That should have been the amount deducted from the payment to SDIF. What did the cunning company do? It deducted the original debt amount of 399 million TL stated in the contract, not the paid amount! It does not pay the 399 million TL SCT debt, accrues interest to 422 million TL, benefits from the tax amnesty paying 258 million TL, and profits 164 million TL. Not satisfied, it also deducts an extra 141 million TL from SDIF, claiming the contract amount was settled. That's an additional deduction of 52 million dollars at that day's exchange rate.

That's a total of 129 million dollars.

The Court of Accounts says: "Retrieve the excess 141 million TL deducted from the fund share from Bein Sports."

I don't know if it was recovered. The Court of Accounts did not include this issue in its findings again. SDIF does not answer questions.

How much was SDIF supposed to receive from the sale?

292 million 199 thousand dollars...

How much did Bein Sports deduct: 129 million dollars?

What's left?

163 million dollars.

If SDIF had gone to tender under these conditions that day, how many people do you think would have entered the tender? Setting everything else aside, with what justification can the Qataris enter today's tender?