Turkish authorities make further arrests in football betting scandal

The betting scandal in Turkish football deepened on Friday as 29 people, including 14 footballers, were arrested, the Istanbul public prosecutor’s office announced.

Their arrests follow the incarceration of six referees and the president of top tier club Eyupspor at the beginning of November.

“Arrest warrants have been issued against 29 people, including 14 footballers, and 24 have been placed in police custody,” read the prosecutor’s statement.

Amongst those arrested were a former president of Turkish giants Galatasaray, Erden Timur, the vice-president of Eyuspor, Fatih Kulaksiz, a director of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), businessmen and a former policeman.

Six of the suspects are accused of “influencing the result of the match Kasımpasa-Samsunspor” on October 26, 2024, and the 14 players had “placed bets in a manner that could affect the result of the match” in betting on the victory of the opposing team in the match against their own club.

According to the prosecutor’s office, suspect transactions were identified on bank accounts, notably “money going in and out considered to be linked to bets, suspicions that the origins of funds were being concealed and unusual financial transactions”.

This is the third wave of operations linked to sports betting.

The TFF, who has said it wants to “clean up” Turkish football, suspended 150 referees last month found guilty of betting on matches.

They also suspended 25 first division players and around 1,000 others from the second, third and fourth tiers.