This article is contributed by Tarik Ajanović:
Recent FIFA and UEFA-backed changes in the Bosnian FA have brought several issues to the spotlight of national attention, with one of them being the incurred debts of the professional football clubs.
According to Selmir Kaplan, the 29-year-old Minister of Culture and Sport of the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina, the Government of the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina is considering an option of writing off accumulated tax debts of the biggest clubs.
This article is contributed by Tarik Ajanović:
Recent FIFA and UEFA-backed changes in the Bosnian FA have brought several issues to the spotlight of national attention, with one of them being the incurred debts of the professional football clubs.
According to Selmir Kaplan, the 29-year-old Minister of Culture and Sport of the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina, the Government of the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina is considering an option of writing off accumulated tax debts of the biggest clubs.
As he stated to the press, the debts are a big burden for the clubs and the sports development is in question since the clubs are unable to cover regular payments to the Federal Tax Revenue Administration as well as their obligations to the players and services used. Therefore, the effectiveness of the whole sports system is in question. Because of that, the clubs are forced to sell their players for very low amounts, the prime example being Man City’s Edin Džeko, now valued at £27m, who left FK Željezničar Sarajevo for Czech Republic for only £11,000 after being deemed surplus to requirements.
The Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina is an administrative region in Bosnia & Herzegovina covering 51% of its territory. Out of 16 clubs playing in the highest division, Premijer liga, 11 of them are based on the territory of the Federation.
The official bank accounts of the affected clubs have been blocked for several years now while some of the lower-league clubs were forced to merge or fold. Although the Federal Tax Revenue Administration made agreements with several clubs about reprogramming their debts, not all of them have fullfilled their obligations.
The total debt of the Federal football industry amounts to around 15 million KM (£6.75m) while the biggest debtors include NK Čelik Zenica (£1.55m), FK Sloboda Tuzla (£1.40m), The Football Association of Bosnia & Herzegovina (£900.000) as well as FK Željezničar Sarajevo and FK Sarajevo (around £760.000 each). Some sources even claim that Federal sports clubs owe £13.5m in total in taxes.
However, the basketball team KK Bosna, the European Champions Cup winner in 1979, is faced with a massive £4.10m debt after going through a rough patch while they had a great streak a few seasons back and could be included in the program.
According to Mr Kaplan, the Federal Tax Revenue Administration would place a lot more attention to the clubs if the debts were written off and no more exemptions would be made in the future. Although he claimed that it has been done before in Europe (one of the examples being England in 2008) and called for the public support in the coming months while the issue is discussed, many are doubtful about this issue and blame the inexperienced minister for bad judgement and unfair treatment of those clubs who did pay their taxes on time.