Since the beginning of December, more than a dozen people have been detained as part of an investigation led by the Istanbul Prosecutor General’s Office.
Among them, television presenters, journalists, singers, actors and social media personalities. They face charges ranging from drug production and trafficking to facilitating prostitution. Many underwent blood and hair tests to detect narcotics.
Saran, a Denver native who was elected president of Fenerbahçe in September, was questioned last week on suspicion of supplying and facilitating the use of narcotic substances. Fenerbahçe released a statement expressing their support for Saran and assuring fans that the club’s operations would continue without interruption.
“We have full confidence that our president will overcome this process with the same common sense and the same firmness that he has always demonstrated,” the club said in a press release. “Our president, Mr. Sadettin Saran, will leave those days behind and continue working with determination for our club,” he said.
This Wednesday, Saran released a statement rejecting the test result, insisting that he never used the drug in question and promising to formally request a new test.
Former Fenerbahce president Aziz Yildirim spent more than a year in prison in 2012 on match-fixing charges, before being acquitted when a retrial concluded the previous case had been influenced by corrupt judges, prosecutors and police.
