The Istanbul public prosecutor’s office announced on Friday the arrest of nearly thirty figures from Turkish football, including fourteen players and a former official of Istanbul-based club Galatasaray, accused of betting on matches.
The wide-ranging investigation by the Istanbul prosecutor, which has shaken Turkish football for several months, had already led in early November to the imprisonment of six referees and the president of Eyüpspor, a first-division club.
According to a statement issued by the prosecutor’s office on Friday, which lists and names all those targeted, “arrest warrants were issued for 29 individuals, including 14 footballers, and 24 of them have been taken into police custody.”
Former Galatasaray president Erden Timur, Eyüpspor vice-president Fatih Kulaksiz, and an official from the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) were also arrested.
Six suspects are accused of having “influenced the outcome of the Kasimpasa–Samsunspor match” on 26 October 2024, while the fourteen players are accused of having “placed bets in a manner affecting the outcome of the match” by betting on the victory of the opposing team in matches involving their own teams.
Operations were carried out simultaneously in eleven provinces and are currently focused on Istanbul, the prosecutor said.
The list of suspects attached to the statement includes players, club officials and officials of the Turkish Football Federation, businessmen, and a former police officer.
According to the prosecutor’s office, suspicious transactions were identified in the bank accounts examined, including “incoming and outgoing cash flows considered to be linked to betting, suspected concealment of the origin of funds, and unusual financial transactions.”
This marks the third wave of operations linked to the investigation into sports betting.
The Turkish Football Federation (TFF), which says it wants to “clean up” Turkish football, suspended nearly 150 referees last month who were found guilty of betting on matches, all of whom have since been dismissed.
Twenty-five first-division players and nearly 1,000 others playing in the second, third, and fourth divisions have also been handed suspensions for the same reasons.
