Türkiye’s football integrity crisis escalated on 5 December (Friday) after prosecutors ordered the detention of 46 individuals, including top-tier footballers, club presidents, referees, and commentators, as part of a far-reaching investigation into insider betting and potential match-fixing across the country’s professional leagues.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that 35 individuals were taken into custody on Friday morning, while five more are still overseas, according to Reuters. Twenty-seven players, including one from each of Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, are accused of betting on the games of their own teams. Neither team has issued a statement at the time of publication of this report.
The widening probe follows weeks of explosive revelations, large-scale suspensions, and mounting concerns over the integrity of domestic competitions.
The latest detentions build on what has become one of the largest integrity scandals in Turkish football history. Earlier this month, authorities arrested Eyupspor chairman Murat Ozkaya and seven others as part of the same investigation, while the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) suspended 1,024 players from all leagues for suspected betting violations.
The TFF had already suspended 149 referees and assistant referees last month after discovering that hundreds of officials had registered betting accounts, and many were actively wagering on matches they were involved in.
TFF President Ibrahim Hacıosmanoğlu described the situation as a “moral crisis in Turkish football”, highlighting the depth of misconduct among officials and players.
The TFF conducted a comprehensive integrity examination when regulators discovered unusual betting data, which unveiled the scandal. According to that research, 152 of the 571 active referees in Turkey’s professional leagues were actively placing bets, and 371 of them had registered betting accounts. Additionally, 42 referees each wagered more than 1,000, while one referee wagered 18,227. Meanwhile, 27 Super Lig players, including national team defender Eren Elmali, placed prohibited wagers.
Turkish Football Federation’s headquarters (TFF) in Istanbul, Türkiye. (Source: BBC)
Elmali, now temporarily removed from the national squad, admitted to placing one bet five years ago on a match unrelated to his club. He has denied any ongoing involvement.
With nearly a third of its referees suspended, the TFF has halted matches in the Third and Fourth Divisions for two weeks and requested additional winter transfer-window days from FIFA to help clubs rebuild squads.
Major clubs are now being drawn into the scandal. Besiktas confirmed that two of its players, Ersin Destanoglu and Necip Uysal, have been referred to the PFDK but said they have “full faith” in the innocence of the pair. Galatasaray acknowledged that Eren Elmali and Metehan Baltaci are under investigation and pledged to follow the process “meticulously”.
UEFA has confirmed it is in contact with the TFF regarding the probe, while Interpol is assisting Turkish authorities with cross-border betting analysis.
Prosecutors are examining whether betting activity may have influenced match outcomes, including suspected match-fixing attempts in two third-tier games in 2023 and 2024, Reuters reported.
Under Türkiye’s Law on the Prevention of Violence and Irregularities in Sports, match manipulation is punishable by 1–3 years in prison, increasing to 5–12 years if organised crime is involved. While no conclusive evidence of match-fixing has yet been presented, authorities have warned that the investigation will continue to widen.
The scandal comes amid professional leagues worldwide being rocked by scandals. The NBA recently launched a full review of its sports betting policies following high-profile gambling and poker allegations involving Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups.
Türkiye’s case, however, stands out for its sheer scale, from hundreds of referees implicated to the mass suspension of players across all divisions.
As Turkish football grapples with the fallout, TFF president Hacıosmanoğlu, speaking to CNN Türk previously, said that the priority is restoring public trust: “We will continue our efforts to create a clean sporting environment. It is vital that the public can trust the officials who run our matches.”
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