The investigation into the illegal betting scandal in Turkish football will continue with a new wide-ranging operation, Turkey’s public prosecutor confirmed in recent hours, warning that club presidents and sports commentators could be among the next targets, as what began in late October as an internal audit of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) that revealed a major scandal involving hundreds of referees implicated in sports betting, is on its way to becoming a full-scale criminal investigation into illegal betting.
So far, the Turkish Football Federation had sanctioned more than a thousand footballers as well as 149 referees, while the Professional Football Disciplinary Committee (PFDK) has recently announced new sanctions against another 638 footballers, mostly from the TFF 3. Lig, the country’s fourth professional division. “Those who have cheated, we will go after them. There will be presidents and club officials in the investigation. There may be links between presidents and referees, coaches and commentators. We are investigating everything,” Istanbul chief prosecutor Akın Gürlek said Thursday, quoted by the Anatolia news agency.
“We will take this investigation to the end. You will see not only referees, but also club presidents involved in the operations. We want football to be cleansed of these practices,” added Gürlek, who also said that both UEFA and Interpol will soon hand over several requested lists to Istanbul prosecutors, meaning that Turkish authorities could launch another large-scale operation in the coming days.
Hundreds of referees and players involved in sports gambling
The scandal erupted at the end of October, when the Federation’s president, İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu, revealed that hundreds of referees had been involved in sports betting, which is forbidden by law for referees, players and football officials alike – revelations that have shaken the very foundations of Turkish football.
Since then, the TFF Disciplinary Council has temporarily suspended more than a hundred referees and players, both in the lower leagues – where the competition had to be suspended due to a lack of players– and in the first division. Eight people have also been arrested following the launch of a parallel ex officio investigation by the public prosecutor’s office, including among them the president of the first division Eyüpspor football club, Murat Özkaya, and referees Erkan Arslan, Yakup Yapıcı and Nevzat Okat.
In recent hours, the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) reported that 147 football referees made transactions worth 21 million Turkish Liras (€430,000) on domestic betting platforms between 2021 and 2025. Referee Erkan Arslan tops the list with transactions totalling 10.5 million liras (€215,000), while first-class and UEFA referee Zorbay Küçük made two illegal betting moves worth a total of 5,000 liras (over €100).
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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.
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