Reform Effectiveness and Unresolved Issues of the Football in the Turkish Super League

Background. Following the successful outcomes of the national team, that finished third in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and the positive club performance in the UEFA competitions at the beginning of the new millennium, Turkish football was expected to reaffirm and further develop in the following years, exploiting also the favourable economic conditions. However, its growth and evolution did not meet the expectations, and in the latest years several managerial aspects of the Turkish Football Federation have begun to be questioned, which has led the federation itself to reform football in areas such as foreign players’ quota, financial requirements and stadiums. Objectives. The main aim of this article is to identify and discuss these issues and how effective the reforms implemented by the Turkish Football Federation have been in the short run. Methods. The research is done through the application of the historical method and the use of secondary data. Results. Our results show that these reforms do not seem to have had a significant impact so far. Conclusion. While some of the reforms likely need more time for their effects to be tangible, the general impression is that Turkish football would need a different approach and more incisive policy interventions.

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