MHK President Ferhat Gündoğdu’s detention makes waves in world press: 'Turkish football shaken by a new scandal'

The detention of 7 suspects, including Central Referee Board (MHK) President Ferhat Gündoğdu, as part of the “Referee file” investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, has caused a wide stir in the European press.

Many news organizations publishing in Germany, France, Spain, England, and Italy reported the development as a critical process regarding the referee structure in Turkish football.

The reports emphasized that the investigation is being conducted over allegations of “torment” and “forgery of official documents.”

While the German press outlet Sport Bild reported the development with the words “Turkish football is shaken by a new scandal,” the BBC wrote in its report that the head of Turkish football's referee management had been detained as part of a corruption and irregularity investigation.

Spain's Marca noted that Gündoğdu and 6 suspects were detained on charges of mobbing and forgery of official documents, stating that the process has created a significant tremor in terms of the referee structure in Turkey. The French L’Equipe also announced the file to its readers as an investigation reaching the top name of Turkish refereeing.

Italy's Corriere dello Sport covered the news through a “Calciopoli” analogy, referring to the major match-fixing and referee scandal that occurred in Italian football in 2006.

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OPERATIONS IN 4 PROVINCES IN THE INVESTIGATION

The investigation is being carried out by teams from the Istanbul Police Department's Financial Crimes Investigation Branch under the coordination of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. It was stated that open-source research, MASAK and HTS studies, complainant and witness statements, and expert findings are being evaluated in the file.

In this context, operations were carried out at addresses identified in Istanbul, Ankara, Elazığ, and Manisa. In addition to Ferhat Gündoğdu, TFF Active Referees Association President Ferdi Karadoruk, former TFF Central Referee Board Deputy President Ahmet Şahin, former MHK member Yunus Yıldırım, TFF Training and 4th Region Supervisor Sebahattin Şahin, TFF Referees and Observers Association Istanbul Branch Organization Officer Alican Sağlar, and TFF Referees and Observers Association Istanbul Provincial Referee Board President Emre Kosif were detained.

In the coming stages of the investigation, the statements of the suspects and the evaluations regarding the evidence in the file are expected to be made by the judicial authorities.