Turkish authorities arrested in the last few hours 32 suspects, including numerous senior officials and executives of several Turkish football clubs, as part of a growing investigation into a scandal involving match-fixing and illegal betting in Turkey’s professional football leagues.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants for 33 people in the so-called ‘football betting’ investigation, following which an operation was launched in 10 different provinces during which 32 of those involved were arrested, while one person is still wanted because his whereabouts are unknown. According to information published in the Turkish media, the suspects are said to have placed bets on matches involving teams that they themselves managed, even betting on the rival team.
According to the information published, in the framework of the investigation carried out by the public prosecutor’s office into money laundering and the creation of an organisation for criminal purposes, it was established that a payment service provider already established had offered financial infrastructure to groups involved in illegal gambling; the profits obtained through this system would have been introduced into the financial circuit and subsequently laundered through front companies and complex fund transfer operations.
The Istanbul public prosecutor’s office also issued a statement on the new operation in which it points out that, as a result of the investigation publicly known as “football gambling – match fixing”, 33 suspects linked to the management of clubs competing in professional leagues have been charged. “According to the investigations, these individuals had betting accounts and, in particular, allegedly bet on the opposing team in matches between the club they managed and other teams. The charges were brought under Law 6222 on violence and disorder in sport,” the statement said.
At least 7 first division football clubs under investigation
This particular operation has focused specifically on club officials; the teams whose officials were arrested include senior officials from Göztepe, Konyaspor, Alanyaspor, Antalyaspor, Kocaelispor, Gençlerbirliği and Sivasspor, all of which are participants in the Süper Lig, the top division of the professional football league in Turkey. Konyaspor confirmed in a statement that a total of five people from the club were arrested: one member of the current board and four who were part of previous management teams.
The new arrests are part of the crackdown on illegal betting and match-fixing in Turkish professional football. As part of the investigation, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) suspended 149 referees and assistants in October for betting on matches, and dozens of people – including club presidents, first division players and sports commentators– have been detained or arrested. The scandal came to light in October 2025, when TFF president İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu publicly revealed that 371 referees had open accounts on betting platforms and that at least 152 of them had bet on football matches, which is forbidden by law.
VOTE
EDITORIAL TEAM
🧿 About us
.
Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
…
📣 Your ADVERTISING on Hispanatolia
.
🤗 HELP US WITH A DONATION:
💗 Paypal
