Thai football club Buriram United files complaint against Turkish manager who promised Taylor Swift concert

Dinçer Gökçe – ISTANBUL

REUTERS photo

Thai football club Buriram United has filed a criminal complaint against a Turkish manager who had promised to organize a concert by U.S. pop icon Taylor Swift for the inauguration ceremony of the team’s new stadium last year.

The team claimed that the manager, identified only as Sinan S., did not organize the concert despite having been paid $937,500, filing a complaint on charges of fraud with the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office under the name of Buriram United Company Ltd. last year.

The club’s new stadium, dubbed I-Mobile, would be inaugurated on Nov. 12, 2016 along with an opening ceremony including a concert by Swift.

Club officials contacted the Thailand-based organization company Tee Entertainment Co. Ltd. The company later contacted Sin Artist Managament owned by Sinan S., who claimed that he had previously represented Swift in their concert organizations. 

He said Swift would take the stage for $1.2 million.

The contract was signed on March 2, 2016 and the amount would be paid to Swift in addition to another $100,000 for the management service. 

Accordingly, Swift would send a 15-second video to TEE Entertaiment after being paid half of the amount. The first $460,000 payment was conveyed to Sinan S. on March 29, 2016, followed by another $140,000 on April 4, 2016. The first disagreement between the parties broke out when Sinan S.’s company could not name the sponsoring firm. He demanded a new agreement, which was signed on April 11, 2016.

According to the new agreement, the remaining $600,000 would be paid to Swift in two installments. The management fee was determined as $50,000 in the agreement.

The company TEE demanded a document from Sinan S. over the exact date of the concert but he allegedly failed to provide them one. The general manager of the club meanwhile was also involved in the disagreement and the parties signed another contract on April 30, 2016.

According to the contract, $337,500 of the remaining amount would be paid until May 5 and Sinan’s company made the payment on May 3. However, the promised video of Swift was not sent to the club. Sinan S. constantly demanded additional time for the video to be sent until May 11, but he never sent the video.

The club ultimately demanded refund from Sinan S. and he allegedly delayed the management over the payment.
 
The club officials later applied to the prosecutor’s office through a law firm in Istanbul and filed a complaint, as Sinan S. denied the accusations. It had also been revealed that Sinan also had not made any payment to Swift.

Sinan S. had previously been held after a complaint by Fenerbahçe player Van der Wiel, but had been released on probation.