Turkish authorities formally arrested eight individuals, together with a top-tier membership chairman, on Monday as a part of an investigation into alleged betting on soccer matches. The Turkish soccer federation (TFF) has additionally suspended 1,024 gamers pending disciplinary investigations.
The TFF suspended 149 referees and assistant referees earlier this month, after an investigation discovered officers working within the nation's skilled leagues had been betting on soccer matches.
Turkey's state-owned Anadolu information company reported {that a} courtroom had dominated to arrest the Eyupspor chairman, Murat Özkaya, and 7 others as a part of the investigation. Eyupspor, who play within the top-tier Turkish Tremendous Lig, weren't instantly obtainable to remark.
In a press release, the TFF mentioned it had despatched 1,024 gamers from all leagues to the Skilled Soccer Disciplinary Council (PFDK) as a part of the investigation, together with 27 gamers from the Tremendous Lig, who've all been suspended. Amongst these 27 had been gamers from champions Galatasaray and Istanbul rivals Besiktas, amongst others.
“Because of the precautionary switch of 1,024 soccer gamers to the PFDK, negotiations have been initiated urgently with Fifa to grant a 15-day switch and registration interval along with the 2025-2026 winter switch interval, solely on the nationwide stage, to ensure that golf equipment to finish their squad deficiencies,” the TFF mentioned.
It additionally mentioned matches within the second- and third-tier leagues had been suspended for 2 weeks, whereas native media mentioned the TFF board would maintain a unprecedented assembly at 2pm (GMT) on Tuesday.
Soccer's world governing physique, Fifa, didn't instantly reply to a Reuters request for touch upon the investigation and the TFF's request for a 15-day switch window.
The TFF president, Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu, has described the state of affairs as a “ethical disaster in Turkish soccer”. Its personal investigation revealed that 371 of 571 energetic referees in Turkey's skilled leagues had betting accounts, and 152 of them had been actively playing.
One referee had positioned bets 18,227 instances and 42 referees had wager on greater than 1,000 soccer matches every. Others had been discovered to have wager solely as soon as.
