Judge’s Letter: Arrested Individuals Update

It was included in the decision letter of the criminal judgeship of peace that some suspects, including football players Metehan Baltacı and Mert Hakan Yandaş, who were arrested within the scope of the “betting on football” investigation, were found to be betting.

The decision letter of the criminal judgeships of peace regarding some suspects arrested during the investigation carried out by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has been reached.

In the decision letter of the Istanbul 10th Criminal Judgeship of Peace, it was stated that the suspects Mert Hakan Yandaş, Ersen Dikmen, Kerem Yusuf Sirkeci and Emircan Çiçek were requested to be arrested for the crime of “fix-fixing” regulated in the Law No. 6222 on the Prevention of Violence and Disorder in Sports.

Within the scope of law enforcement reports, MASAK reports, digital material review and the entire file, it was stated that suspect Mert Hakan Yandaş transferred a total of 4 million 453 thousand 62 liras to suspect Ersen Dikmen between December 2021 and October 2025.

In the decision letter, which stated that the suspect Dikmen sent the amounts from Yandaş to legal betting sites in a short time, it was stated that Dikmen sent a total of 2 million 60 thousand 974 liras to the suspect Yandaş.

In the decision, it was stated that suspect Dikmen started receiving money transfers from suspect Yandaş in December 2021 and thereafter, there were many betting coupons, including football matches of Fenerbahçe Sports Club, on legal betting sites.

It was stated that Yandaş ‘took actions aimed at influencing the results of the competition’

In the decision letter regarding the digital material review of Suspect Yandaş, it was noted that there were coupon images indicating that bets were placed on the Fenerbahçe football team, of which the suspect is a player, and thus, Suspect Yandaş took actions to influence the results of the competition by betting on suspect Ersen Dikmen, independently of the football team he played for.

In the decision letter, it was stated that the suspect Kerem Yusuf Sirkeci was an active football player in Fatih Karagümrük AŞ, had a membership registration on the “Nesine” website, and bet on the Fenerbahçe-Fatih Karagümrük AŞ match played on October 19, 2025 by “over 1.5” and bet on the Samsunspor-Fatih Karagümrük AŞ match played in 2021 as “the opposing team will win”.

It was stated that the suspect Sirkeci had messages indicating that he had committed the crime charged in the digital material examinations, and that he committed the crime charged by influencing the outcome of the competition by making individual bets in order to gain personal gain, regardless of the football team he played for.

In the article, it was stated that the suspect Emircan Çiçek was an active football player in Pendikspor AŞ, he was a member of the “Nesine” website, it was understood that he made bets on the Pendikspor-Amedspor match and Erzurumspor-Pendikspor during the period he played in Pendikspor, saying “the opposing team would win”, digital material examinations revealed correspondence and posts indicating that he committed the crime charged, and that the suspect affected the outcome of the competition by making individual bets in order to gain personal gain, regardless of the football team he played for.

In the decision of the Istanbul 3rd Criminal Court of Peace, it was noted that the suspects Emrah Çelik, Yunus Emre Tekoğul, Metehan Baltacı, İzzet Furkan Malak and Bartu Kaya were referred to arrest for allegedly committing the crime of match-fixing.

In the article, it was emphasized that there was information in the open source research that the suspect Emrah Çelik was the second president of Antalyaspor AŞ and that he made bets on Antalyaspor matches while he was the manager.

In the article, it is stated that the suspect Yunus Emre Tekoğul had a membership registration on the “Misli” site, that he was a football player in the Sakaryaspor football team at the time he bet, and that the suspect bet on the Fatih Karagümrük-Sakaryaspor match on October 5, 2024 as “the opponent wins as a result of the match”. In the digital material examinations of the suspect, a message sent by an illegal betting site, a coupon belonging to the relevant betting site, and a message sent to the members from the legal betting site named “Nesine” were detected. It was stated that.

It was determined that Metehan Baltacı accessed illegal betting sites

In the article, it was stated that the suspect Metehan Baltacı bet on 27 competitions during the time he was a player at Galatasaray Sports Club, where he was registered as a member of the legal betting site named “Nesine”, and that the suspect placed bets saying “his own team will win and there will be more than 2.5 goals”. In the examination of the suspect’s digital materials, messages were detected suggesting that he bet and offered a coupon, and it was determined that he logged in to illegal betting sites with his username and password.

In the findings made regarding the suspect İzzet Furkan Malak, it was emphasized that the suspect, who was last registered with Göztepe Spor Kulübü AŞ on August 7, but was a football player without an active registration, had a membership record on the site named “Nesine”. He placed a bet on the Boluspor-Göztepe match as “2.5 under” on October 6, 2023. In his digital materials, images of the illegal betting site and pictures of roulette being played were detected.

In the article, in the evaluation made regarding the suspect Bartu Kaya, it was stated that he played football in Amed Sportif Eylemler AŞ, that the suspect was registered as a member of the legal betting site named “Bilyoner”, and that he bet on the 1922 Konyaspor Bornova 1877 match while he was playing in Bornova 1877 Sportif AŞ, but it was understood that the data received through “Bilyoner” did not indicate which bet he made on the competitions.

Source: AA