Operation detained 17 referees and the president of a 2nd division club involved in match fixing and illegal betting
Turkish justice ordered this Friday (November 7, 2025) the preventive arrest of 21 people, including 17 referees and the president of a club in the 2nd division of the national championship, the Super Lig, for involvement in illegal football betting. The operation is carried out in 12 cities across the country and, to date, 18 suspects have been detained. The information is from .
The legal action was taken a week after the (Turkish Football Federation) suspended 149 referees and assistants for maintaining accounts on sports betting sites.
According to the Istanbul prosecutor general’s office, the 17 referees were arrested on charges of abuse of power and manipulating match results.
The list of suspects also includes the president of a Super Lig club, a former club owner and a former association president, all with arrest warrants issued for alleged manipulation practices. The names of those involved were not disclosed.
The operation also resulted in the arrest of a person accused of spreading false information about the case on social media.
The investigation conducted by the TFF revealed significant numbers regarding the involvement of referees with betting. Of the 571 referee professionals active in Turkish professional competitions, 371 (equivalent to 65% of the total) had accounts on betting sites, and 152 of them (27% of the total) placed bets regularly.
One particularly serious case involves a referee who placed 18,227 bets. Another 42 professionals bet on more than 1,000 football matches each, according to data collected by the federation.
The TFF disciplinary council has already applied punishments to those involved in the scheme, with suspensions ranging from 8 to 12 months for the 149 managers identified for participating in betting activities.
