Erdoğan's first comments on the betting scandal investigation! 'For these figures...'

AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan answered journalists' questions on the plane while returning from Turkmenistan.

Breaking his silence on the illegal betting scandal and match-fixing investigation that has dominated Turkey's agenda, Erdoğan spoke as follows:

"Dear friends, football is, as you know, actually a source of entertainment for millions of people. It is not just followed by a certain country or a certain region, but is a way to relieve fatigue that almost the entire world watches by filling stadiums to the brim and viewing through screens. Indeed, we have always watched and followed this from our youth until we reached our current position. Now, I continue to watch matches on television constantly, especially.

However, these recent developments have saddened us significantly. The fact that many names, from administrators to executives and football players, are involved here and that these people's names are mixed up in such scandals, and that this is happening in my country, has truly saddened us as a President. It has been astonishing. How can these people, who receive millions of liras in transfer fees, get involved in this, how can they enter into this for these figures? You look at the executives, how can these executives do this, how can they get involved?

I am truly stating this by underlining it very clearly: the spirit of football is justice. If we cannot establish this justice, the results coming from the pitches will never satisfy us. Why? Because a result far from justice will emerge. It will not be possible for this to satisfy us. Besides all this, we are on the side of the noble and clean spirit of football. I believe that this will be established after the judicial mechanism works in a fair manner. No matter where it comes from, no matter which club it comes from, Club A, Club B, it makes no difference. Justice is very, very important to us here. In my opinion, the judiciary is currently performing this duty in the most ideal way. We will continue this struggle to the end, especially for the sake of the voice of the stands, the dreams of the youth, and this nation's longing for clean football."

News Source: 12punto