ISTANBUL –  A Turkish court has accepted an indictment charging the father of NBA player Enes Kanter with “membership in a terror group,” the country’s official news agency reported Monday.

The indictment followed an investigation of Mehmet Kanter, and prosecutors planned to seek his conviction and a prison term of five to 10 years at trial, Anadolu Agency said.

It’s unclear when the trial in western Tekirdag province would begin.

Enes Kanter, who plays for the New York Knicks, is a follower of a U.S.-based Turkish cleric who the government accuses of masterminding a failed military coup in 2016. Cleric Fethullah Gulen has denied the allegation, but tens of thousands of people suspected of ties to his network have been arrested or fired.

The elder Kanter, a professor, was purged from public service after the coup attempt and detained for five days last summer.

Anadolu said he is accused in the indictment of contacting some 120 suspects with alleged links to Gulen, including dozens who were said to have communicated through an encrypted messaging application.

Enes Kanter, a former Oklahoma City Thunder center, has been a vocal critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. His Turkish passport was canceled last year and prosecutors charged him in December with insulting the president in a series of tweet. They want to try him in absentia and have him sentenced to more than four years in prison, if he is convicted.

“Keep my family, innocent people in your prayers,” the basketball player tweeted Monday with the hashtag “DictatorErdogan.” His Twitter account is withheld in Turkey.

Under a state of emergency declared in the aftermath of the coup, Turkey has arrested more than 50,000 and sacked some 110,000 people alleged to have infiltrated state institutions for Gulen. The government said the crackdown was needed to fight alleged acts of terror.

The Knicks will be woefully thin in the frontcourt Thursday night against the Toronto Raptors. Not only are Kristaps Porzingis and Willy Hernangomez gone, but starting center Enes Kanter will also miss the game with mouth problems.

Kanter cut his mouth in practice a few days ago, and the stitches keep coming out, which sounds painful as hell.

In other Kanter news, he’s about to go on trial in Turkey.

Kanter is often facing charges in his native land, but this was has a particularly NBA bent: He’s going on trial (in absentia, of course) for insulting former NBA player Hedo Turkoglu. Per Eurohoops:

An indictment was filed on the grounds that Kanter has “insulted Turkoglu more than once on different dates”, per the report by [Turkish newspaper] Sabah.

The Istanbul Cyber Crimes Investigation Bureau prepared the indictment which is based on “humiliating and hurtful messages” made by Kanter against Turkoglu on his social media.

The indictment mentions that even though Kanter won’t appear before the judge, he will be tried in absentia because he “has to be punished for the charges of insult”. The case will be heard before the Assize Court.

This goes way beyond Kanter’s famous beef with LeBron James. But Kanter is still carrying out his battle with Turkoglu on Twitter.

I’m not sure what any of this means. Can anybody who speaks Turkish translate Kanter’s response?

Ah, the Kanter saga. It’s wild stuff.

Turkey is one the most preferred countries among football players as the income tax rate in the country is lower than that in Europe, a professor said.

In December, the Turkish parliament approved a code that football players in Turkey’s Super Lig will be tied to 15 percent income tax until Dec. 31, 2019.

“So many European football players and managers prefer Turkey because of low tax rates,” said Sebahattin Devecioğlu, associate professor at Faculty of Sports Sciences in Fırat University.

He stated that the aim of lowering the tax rate is to boost the quality of Turkish Süper Lig by attracting more European stars.

Back-to-back Süper Lig champions Beşiktaş signed 32-year-old Spanish striker Alvaro Negredo, who had played for Spain’s Real Madrid and Valencia, and English Premier League title contender Manchester City.

Süper Lig title contenders Galatasaray signed 32-year-old French striker Bafetimbi Gomis. During his career, Gomis played for French clubs Olympique Lyon and Olympique Marseille and England’s Swansea City.

Fenerbahçe added 33-year-old French winger Mathieu Valbuena, who has played for Olympique Marseille and Olympique Lyon.

Increasing brand value

In addition to Valbuena, Fenerbahçe strengthened their offense with 32-year-old Spanish striker Roberto Soldado. He is a former player of English club Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid. He has also played for Spain’s Valencia before moving to Tottenham.

Additionally, French left-back Gael Clichy joined Istanbul-based club Medipol Başakşehir in July 2017. The 32-year-old defender previously played for English Premier League clubs Arsenal and Manchester City.

“The regulations like this are needed for developing and supporting sports in Turkey and increasing brand value of the league”, Devecioğlu added.

Players in Germany, Spain, Italy and England, where level of competition is higher than the Turkish Süper Lig, are paying more income tax than their co-workers in Turkey.

KPMG Football Benchmark’s video revealed that the expenditure of the Turkish club for a player, who earns net 1 million euros ($1.18 million) per annum, is 1.19 million euros ($1.41 million).

Meanwhile this figure in Germany tallies 1.9 million euros ($2.25 million). In Spain the cost is nearly similar to the one in Germany, as the figure is 1.91 million euros ($2.26 million). In Italy this figure has boosted to 1.97 million euros ($2.33 million) and it climbs to 2.12 million euros ($2.51 million) in England.

However, France is holding the record cost since a player in the French top division Ligue 1, who bags net 1 million euros per year, costs 2.74 million euros ($3.24 million) to his club.

Tax fraud claims

Devecioğlu also talked about tax fraud claims in Europe as several star players such as Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo and defender Marcelo and midfielder Luka Modric were accused of tax evasion.

“Last year Panama files were published. Barcelona striker Lionel Messi and his father, who is Messi’s agent, faced court over tax evasion claims for investing his income in offshore banks,” he added.

Messi was found guilty for exploiting his image rights that he earned in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Messi and his father Jorge Horacio were charged for defrauding Spain of 4.1 million euros ($4.85 million).

The court in Barcelona found out that the duo used tax havens in Belize and Uruguay.

Messi rejected tax evasion claims but the court gave him 21-month prison sentence. Later, a Supreme Court in Spain swapped the jail sentence with the fine.

The professor said insufficient legislative regulations have led to the formation of an informal economy in football. “Money laundering is still there in football and this cannot be controlled.”