448 Turkish football officials investigated over illegal betting

The president of Trabzonspor and 447 other football figures in Turkey are being investigated by the Turkish Football Federation over illegal betting, while football in the country remains under the judiciary’s microscope.

Last month, seven people were arrested on a prosecutor’s arrest warrant, including the head of the football federation’s arbitration committee, Ferhat Gudogdu.

The judiciary made these arrests as part of a months-long investigation into criminal offences involving, among other things, forgery of official documents and accusations of interference in the processes of evaluating and appointing referees.

Now the Turkish federation has announced that it is referring to its disciplinary bodies 448 officials who have held administrative positions at first- and second-division clubs in the last five years.

According to the federation, these actors were identified as people who had bet illegally in large amounts on various platforms and had made profits of several million dollars.

The list of 448 includes 13 names from Trabzonspor, including chairman Ertugrul Dogan, 10 from Besiktas, five from Galatasaray and three from Fenerbahce.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, two referees from Turkey’s top football division were questioned. They are Yasin Kol and Goktug Hazar Erel, who are accused of “collaboration in forgery” and “abuse of office.”