Fenerbahce fans show support for club president as Turkey match-fixing trial begins

ISTANBUL // Hundreds of football fans gathered outside a court yesterday as the trial against more than 90 officials, managers and players suspected of involvement in Turkey's largest match-fixing scandal started under heavy security.

Dressed in the yellow-and-blue jerseys of Turkey's champions Fenerbahce SK, fans outside a judicial complex in Siliviri shouted slogans and unfolded banners in support of Aziz Yildirim, the Fenerbahce president, one of the 93 suspects on trial.

"We are right, we will win," read a banner held up by fans of the Istanbul club. A poster with the picture of Mr Yildirim carried the slogan: "We know, We are at your side."

Mr Yildirim, 59, a millionaire businessman, is accused of paying bribes officials and players of opponents, and incentives to teams playing against rivals during Fenerbahce's 2010/2011 title-winning season. Mr Yildirim denies the accusation. He is among 23 suspects being held in custody.

In a statement to reporters in the courtroom, Mr Yildirim denied that he had given €100,000 (Dh483,000) to Ibrahim Akin, a former player of rival Istanbul club, Istanbul BB. "Where are the documents?" Mr Yildirim said, according to Turkish news reports. "If they prove this, I will throw myself from the nearest bridge. It is a shame, a shame"

The match-fixing scandal has rocked this football-crazy country. It has led to the elimination of Fenerbahce from the Uefa Champions League and to the resignation of the leadership of Turkey's football federation. Another leading club embroiled in the scandal, Besiktas, was forced to hand back the Turkish Cup that it won last year. Half a dozen Fenerbahce officials as well as a former vice-president and a former manager of Besiktas are among the accused.

There have been suspicions about possible match-fixing in Turkey's football for years, but this is the first time that a top team has been the target of a criminal investigation. Fenerbahce is Turkey's most successful club with 18 Super Lig titles. It once counted Turkey's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, among its fans.

Many Fenerbahce fans say their club had been singled out as a scapegoat. In a move widely seen as an effort to curry favour with football fans, Turkey's biggest political parties teamed up last year to reduce sentences for match-fixing.

Mehmet Ekinci, the presiding judge, tried to calm supporters of the clubs accused of involvement in the scandal. "We are not trying clubs here. We are trying defendants accused of a crime," Mr Ekinci told reporters on Saturday.

The trial is being held in a high-security compound in Silivri, 50 kilometres west of Istanbul, that is also used for trials against suspected coup plotters and serves as a detention centre for Turkey's former military chief and other high-profile suspects. No cameras were allowed in the courtroom, but Turkish news reports said Mr Yildirim appeared to be in good spirits.

Olgun Peker, the former chairman of the club Giresunspor from Turkey's Black Sea coast who has been linked in the media to organised crime in the past, is another key suspect. Officials, managers and players from six other clubs are also charged with fixing matches.

Prosecutors say the accused manipulated several matches last season. One of the games investigated was Fenerbahce's 4-3 victory over Sivasspor on May 22, which secured the championship for Mr Yildirim's club.

In their 401-page indictment prosecutors ask for up to 147 years in prison for Mr Yildirim.

Records of wire-tapped telephone conversations form the core of the prosecution's case. According to the indictment quoted in news reports, suspects talked about the manipulations in code, using the phrase "drinking coffee" for fixing a match and calling football players "construction workers".

tseibert@thenational.ae

RESULT

Everton 2 Huddersfield Town 0
Everton: Sigurdsson (47'), Calvert-Lewin (73')

Man of the Match: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton)

John%20Wick%3A%20Chapter%204

%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Chad%20Stahelski%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Keanu%20Reeves%2C%20Laurence%20Fishburne%2C%20George%20Georgiou%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026

1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.

3. More tax audits

Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.

4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.

5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.

6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.

7. Limited time periods for audits

Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.

8. Pillar 2 implementation

Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.

9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.

10. Substance and CbC reporting focus

Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.

Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer

HOW TO WATCH

Facebook: TheNationalNews

Twitter: @thenationalnews

Instagram: @thenationalnews.com

TikTok: @thenationalnews

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”