The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced on 28 October that it has referred 152 referees to disciplinary proceedings after discovering that they placed illegal bets, including among them the well-known first division and UEFA Turkish referee Zorbay Küçük.
The decision came a day after TFF president İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu revealed at a press conference a historic scandal in Turkish football by confirming that 371 of the 571 referees active in the country’s professional leagues had accounts on betting platforms, and that 152 of them were actively involved in betting on them, something that is expressly forbidden by law.
Those referred to the Professional Football Disciplinary Committee (PFDK) include seven main referees and fifteen top flight assistant referees, although Küçük is the only one to have officiated Süper Lig matches this season. The other senior referees under investigation are Egemen Artun, Mehmet Ali Özer, Melih Kurt, Muhammed Selim Özbek, Seyfettin Alper Yılmaz and Yunus Dursun, according to Turkish media reports.
According to the Turkish federation, the investigation began earlier this year when the TFF received information from national betting regulators alerting them to suspicious activities linked to referee accounts. The finding is based on a five-year internal audit, covering the period 2020-2025, and has led to disciplinary and criminal proceedings that could lead to the biggest refereeing reshuffle in the history of Turkish football.
The scope of the scandal is staggering, just knowing a few figures: one referee bet on 18,227 matches over those five years, equivalent to almost ten bets a day. Ten other referees placed more than 10,000 bets each, and 42 placed more than a thousand. Among those involved are several referees with experience in UEFA competitions. The Turkish authorities are now investigating whether any of them bet on matches they themselves officiated, or whether betting patterns could have influenced the outcome of matches.
Which matches has Zorbay Küçük officiated in recent years?
As the investigation progresses, the Turkish press has released the list of matches officiated in the last 5 years by Zorbay Küçük, the only one of the referees implicated in the illegal betting scandal – as far as is known so far – to have officiated matches in the Turkish Premier League. The list of matches he officiated is extensive, and includes not only Turkish Super League matches, but also official UEFA competitions in which even Real Madrid have participated:
2021-2022
Besiktas – C.Rizespor: 3-0
Alanyaspor – Giresunspor: 1-0
Hatayspor – Gaziantep FK: 2-1
Y.Malatyaspor – Başakşehir: 1-3
Kayserispor – Göztepe: 1-1
Fenerbahçe – C.Rizespor: 4-0
Antalyaspor – Trabzonspor: 2-1
Galatasaray – Basaksehir: 1-1
Gaziantep FK – F.Karagümrük: 3-1
Y.Malatyaspor – Besiktas: 1-1
Trabzonspor – Kasımpaşa: 1-0
Giresunspor – Fenerbahce: 1-2
Fenerbahçe – Trabzonspor: 1-1
Basaksehir – Antalyaspor: 0-1
Goztepe – Alanyaspor: 0-2
Trabzonspor – Besiktas: 1-1
2022-2023
F.Karagumruk – Alanyaspor: 2-4
Giresunspor – Konyaspor: 0-1
Istanbulspor – Besiktas: 2-2
Kasımpaşa – Gaziantep FK: 1-0
Fenerbahçe – Basaksehir: 1-0
Trabzonspor – Konyaspor: 2-1
Giresunspor – Gaziantep FK: 2-1
Galatasaray – Ankaragucu: 2-1
Besiktas – Kasimpasa: 2-1
Hatayspor – Trabzonspor: 2-1
Sivasspor – Besiktas: 1-0
Alanyaspor – Basaksehir: 1-0
Konyaspor – Galatasaray: 2-1
Kayserispor – Umraniyespor: 3-1
Giresunspor – Basaksehir: 2-4
Sivasspor – Fenerbahce: 1-3
Fenerbahçe – Antalyaspor: 2-0
Umraniyespor – Giresunspor: 0-1
2023-2024
F.Karagumruk – Pendikspor: 2-0
Gaziantep FK – Samsunspor: 1-1
Konyaspor – Hatayspor: 2-0
Trabzonspor – F.Karagumruk: 5-1
Basaksehir – Besiktas: 1-1
Kasimpasa – Konyaspor: 0-2
Pendikspor – Kayserispor: 1-2
Gaziantep FK – F.Karagümrük: 3-1
Trabzonspor – Antalyaspor: 1-0
Besiktas – Sivasspor: 2-0
Fenerbahçe – Basaksehir: 4-0
Antalyaspor – Galatasaray: 0-2
Fenerbahçe – Trabzonspor: 2-3
Ankaragucu – Besiktas: 1-1
Samsunspor – Kasımpaşa: 4-2
Kayserispor – Fenerbahce: 3-4
Sivasspor – Galatasaray: 1-1
Konyaspor – Antalyaspor: 1-1
2024-2025
Antalyaspor – Goztepe: 0-0
Sivasspor – Eyüpspor: 0-1
Bodrum FK – Basaksehir: 0-1
Besiktas – Eyupspor: 2-1
Trabzonspor – Başakşehir: 1-0
Hatayspor – Kayserispor: 0-1
Besiktas – Kasimpasa: 1-3
C.Rizespor – Trabzonspor: 3-1
Samsunspor – Alanyaspor: 1-1
Trabzonspor – Kasımpaşa: 2-2
Göztepe – C.Rizespor: 3-0
Alanyaspor – Konyaspor: 2-0
Kayserispor – Samsunspor: 0-1
Trabzonspor – Sivasspor: 4-0
Antalyaspor – Basaksehir: 0-0
C.Rizespor – Galatasaray: 1-2
Sivasspor – Konyaspor: 1-1
Besiktas – Gaziantep FK: 1-2
Samsunspor – Kasımpaşa: 0-2
Basaksehir – Gaziantep FK: 2-1
Kocaelispor – Samsunspor: 0-1
Basaksehir – Eyupspor: 0-0
Çaykur Rizespor – Gençlerbirliği: 1-0
Alanyaspor – Galatasaray: 0-1
Trabzonspor – Eyüpspor: 2-0
2025-2026
UEFA Youth League Kairat Almaty 1-4 Real Madrid
UEFA Champions League Qualifiers FC Drita 1-0 Differdange 03
UEFA Conference League Qualifiers Rosenborg 0-0 Hammarby
Trendyol 1st League Esenler Erokspor 1-1 Bodrum FK
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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.
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