An Istanbul court on Monday ordered the provisional detention of 11 footballers from Turkey’s first and second divisions, nine of them accused of having bet on their own team’s matches.
An Istanbul court on Monday ordered the pre-trial detention of 11 footballers from Turkey’s first and second divisions, nine of them accused of having bet on their own team’s matches, Turkish media reported.
Among the five first division players charged are Metehan Baltaci, defender of Galatasaray, Alassane Ndao, Senegalese winger of Konyaspor, and Mert Hakan Yandas, midfielder of Fenerbahçe, accused of having bet on matches via a third person.
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Judges ordered the pre-trial detention of nine other suspects, including the presidents of two third division clubs accused of agreeing on the result of a meeting during the 2023-2024 season. Nineteen suspects were released under judicial supervision, including four players from Süper Lig, the Turkish first division.
“Cleaning” of Turkish football
A total of forty people were arrested last week as part of a vast investigation by the Istanbul public prosecutor’s office into suspicions of illegal betting and match-fixing.
These investigations, which are shaking up Turkish football, have already led to the incarceration in early November of six Turkish referees and the president of Eyüspor, a first division club.
The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) also dismissed nearly 150 referees last month whom it accused of actively betting on matches. The TFF, which says it wants “to clean” Turkish football, for the same reason, imposed suspension sentences of up to twelve months on 25 first division players and nearly 1,000 others playing in the second, third and fourth divisions.
