Turkish prosecutors said on Friday they had ordered the detention of 21 people, including 17 referees and the president of an unnamed Super Lig club, as part of an investigation into alleged betting on football matches.
So far, 18 of the 21 suspects have been detained, state news agency Anadolu reported.
The move comes a week after the TFF (Turkish Football Federation) suspended 149 referees and assistant referees after an investigation found that officials working in the country’s professional leagues were betting on football matches.
Istanbul’s chief prosecutor’s office said the detention of the 17 referees was based on abuse of office and manipulation of match results. A Super Lig club president, a former club owner and a former association president were also ordered detained for alleged match-fixing, the statement said.
One more person faced arrest for spreading misleading information on social media as part of the operation across 12 cities in Türkiye, the statement said.
In its own separate investigation, the TFF disciplinary board imposed bans ranging from eight to 12 months on 149 officers for involvement in betting activities.
TFF president Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu described the situation as a “moral crisis in Turkish football”. The investigation revealed that 371 of the 571 active referees in Turkey’s professional leagues had betting accounts, and 152 of them were actively betting.
One referee had bet 18,227 times, and 42 referees had bet on more than 1,000 football matches each. Others were discovered to have only bet once.
