Testimony of released Ahmet Çakar revealed! 'The matches I bet on...'

The investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into allegations of 'betting' and 'match-fixing' involving referees, football players, and club officials—including names such as former Adanademirspor President Murat Sancak, football players Mert Hakan Yandaş and Metehan Balcı, sports commentator Ahmet Çakar, and referee Zorbay Küçük—continues.

As part of the investigation, the detention order for suspect, sports commentator, and former referee Ahmet Çakar was lifted due to a heart condition, and instructions were given to the police for Çakar to be brought to the courthouse for his statement once his health permitted following his treatment. After completing his treatment process at the hospital, Çakar recently arrived at the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan to provide his statement to the Prosecutor's Office. Following his testimony, Çakar was released on the condition of judicial control, specifically a 'ban on traveling abroad'.

"I HAVE NEVER PLACED ILLEGAL BETS IN MY LIFE"

Meanwhile, the testimony Çakar gave to the Prosecutor's Office has been revealed. In his statement, Çakar noted that he served as a referee between 1980 and 1998 and was a FIFA-badged referee between 1992 and 1998, stating, "I have a membership on one legal betting site. Apart from this, although I do not remember the exact date, I may have had memberships on other legal betting sites. Since I played with very small amounts on these accounts a long time ago, I cannot remember which betting sites I had memberships with at the moment. I do not have an illegal betting account. I have never placed illegal bets in my life. If I were going to, I wouldn't have memberships on legal betting sites."

"THE MATCHES I BET ON ARE GENERALLY INTERNATIONAL MATCHES"

When asked by the Prosecutor's Office whether he had any prior knowledge or information regarding the matches he bet on, Çakar replied, "I am strictly a person against match-fixing. In fact, I have always talked about the match-fixing offer I received in the past, specifically in 1993, on television. The matches I bet on are generally international matches. In these matches I bet on, I play based on whether there will be over or under goals rather than the match result. I generally bet on European teams and European matches. I have placed minimal bets on leagues played in our country. I have no direct knowledge regarding match-fixing or betting on matches. I only mentioned in sports programs that some things were abnormal as a commentary when I became suspicious of certain matches, but I have no direct observation or information regarding these."

MOBILE PHONE FOUND BROKEN:

Continuing his statement by explaining that his mobile phone could not be found during the search efforts and was later recovered in a broken state, Çakar said, "I was out for dinner one day before I was taken into custody. I came home at 1 a.m. When the police arrived in the morning, I told them I didn't know where my phone was. I even told the police it might be in my car. When I checked my car roughly, I saw the phone wasn't there. The police were with me at the time. While I was in custody, my lawyer entered my house to provide clothes and found my mobile phone broken next to my car. My lawyer turned the phone on. The phone stayed on for 20 minutes. Later, the phone turned off by itself. According to what my lawyer told me, it was in an unusable state. I have no information about the fate of the phone. It either stayed at the hospital or was lost. I am currently using the phone my sister gave me. That phone is not with me right now either. I have not placed bets outside of legal betting sites. I do not accept the accusations against me."