Süper Lig referee Yasin Kol and assistant referee Göktuğ Hazar Erel face immediate detention requests following a major investigation led by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Authorities detained the officials after a pre-season friendly match between Trabzonspor and Drogheda United in Trabzon, as financial analysis from the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) revealed extensive, highly concentrated bank transfers linked to active match officials.
Financial Analysis Reveals Multi-Million Lira Account Traffic
Initial law enforcement reviews of MASAK raw data pointed to nearly 135 million Turkish liras across 5,978 separate transactions in Yasin Kol’s accounts between 2012 and 2026. However, expert reviewers discovered significant duplicate entries across different digital ledger pages. Once authorities extracted these repeated records, the true single-transfer volume dropped to 84,181,512 liras. Of that total, 34,558,000 liras stemmed from internal transfers between Kol’s own accounts, while roughly 49,481,000 liras involved external third-party entities.
Further examination of the banking records uncovered 50 active accounts spread across 11 different financial institutions, utilizing 41 distinct IBAN numbers. Excluding internal transfers, Kol received 25,301,671 liras from 187 individuals and disbursed 24,179,269 liras to 407 different recipients. Investigators highlighted that the number of outbound transfer recipients was more than double the number of inbound senders. Annual transaction volumes showed sharp acceleration in recent years, climbing from 587,000 liras in transfer deposits during 2020 to 6,632,000 liras in 2025, and reaching 8,218,000 liras in 2026 during the period leading up to September 14.
Discrepancies and Alternative Sources on Transaction Totals
Reporting across different Turkish media outlets highlighted varying breakdowns of the overarching financial data. While preliminary law enforcement summaries cited a broader transaction scope, some reports stated that the official MASAK figures calculated total cash outflows at 72.1 million liras and total cash inflows at 62.5 million liras across the 2012–2026 period, placing the overall transaction volume at 135 million liras. Other sources corroborated these specific inflow and outflow parameters, noting a particular surge in 2026 where annual inflows hit approximately 22.3 million liras against roughly 40.8 million liras in outflows.
Social security records establish that Yasin Kol has worked as a security guard at Karadeniz Teknik University (KTU) Rectorate since 2018, supplementing his income with officiating payments from the Turkish Football Federation (TFF). Combined earnings from the TFF and KTU totaled 9,433,000 liras between 2018 and 2026. In contrast, a significant portion of all incoming funds originated from private individuals, with roughly 4,986,000 liras of those non-institutional entries explicitly labeled as loans or loan repayments.
Concentrated Money Transfers Around Match Schedules
The expert report’s most scrutinized finding centers on financial exchanges between Yasin Kol and fellow referees who officiated the exact same fixtures. Forensic accountants identified 64 banking counterparts who shared at least one match assignment with Kol. While those individuals sent 218,668 liras to Kol, outbound transfers from Kol to those same colleagues totaled 853,472 liras.
When cross-referenced against the official match calendar, 50 of these bank transactions occurred within a tight six-day window spanning three days before and two days after a shared fixture.
The file also highlighted transfers involving Onur Tomak, from whom Kol received funds, with no return transfers recorded from Kol to Tomak.
Yasin Kol Rejects Match Fixing and Betting Allegations
Following his detention after the Trabzonspor-Drogheda United preparation fixture alongside assistant referee Göktuğ Hazar Erel, Yasin Kol rejected all allegations during his formal interrogation. Kol maintained that no individual contacted him before or after any match to issue instructions regarding his on-field decisions, asserting that such interference is impossible. He denied ever participating in illegal betting or sending funds to facilitate gambling for others, stating that the financial assessments were flawed and that his lifetime earnings never matched those figures outside of his legitimate salaries from refereeing and his security guard position.
Kol stated during his testimony that he has worked as a private security guard at KTU for 15 years, earning a monthly income without holding shares or managerial roles in any corporate entity. He told authorities that he owns a single apartment in Trabzon and possesses no other registered real estate or assets, confirming he holds no active memberships on any betting or chance-game platforms. Prosecutors subsequently referred Yasin Kol to the Istanbul Duty Sulh Criminal Judgeship with a formal request for detention under Article 11 of Law No. 6222 concerning match-fixing and incentive premiums, while Göktuğ Hazar Erel faced a separate detention request under allegations of official document forgery.
Judicial Inquiry Targets TFF Referee Promotions and Officials
The widening judicial inquiry builds upon an operation initiated by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office under investigation file number 2025/83127, focusing on irregularities within TFF referee promotion examinations and allegations of financial collection from officials under various pretexts. The sweep has already impacted leadership structures within Turkish football administration. Merkez Hakem Kurulu (MHK) President Ferhat Gündoğdu and four other individuals were remanded in custody, while suspects Sebahattin Şahin and Ahmet Şahin received international travel bans and mandatory judicial check-in requirements.
In response to the developments, the Turkish Football Federation released a statement emphasizing that its board of directors was elected through the collective will of delegates and vowing to pursue clean football and fair play principles to restore public trust. The investigation continues under the supervision of the Yasa Dışı Bahis ve Spor Suçları Soruşturma Bürosu as judicial authorities review additional digital evidence, witness testimonies, and telecommunication traffic records.
