Breaking News... Betting investigation in football expands! 18 people detained... Club presidents are among them!

A new development has occurred in the football betting operation. Detention warrants were issued for 18 people as part of the investigation. Detention warrants were also issued for 3 club executives, one of whom is an active club president.

18 OUT OF 21 REFEREES IN CUSTODY

18 out of 21 referees were detained. 2 were abroad, and one could not be found at his home. The referees were detained on charges of "influencing the outcome of a match and spreading misleading information."

Among those detained are Eyüpspor President Murat Özkaya and former Kasımpaşa club president Mehmet Fatih Saraç. Fatih Saraç was released after giving his statement.

STATEMENT FROM THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE

In the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, which continues following the acceptance as a report of the press statement made by TFF (Turkish Football Federation President) İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu on 27/10/2025, stating that "it was determined that 371 referees had betting accounts and 152 were actively betting,"

-Considering that referees are public officials, the monetary values of the betting games, which are evaluated as behavior contrary to the requirements of the duty, were compared with the income they obtained from their refereeing duties and their own income outside of their refereeing duties. As a result of the examination of the allegations of match-fixing and influencing match results contained in the Law on the Prevention of Violence and Disorder in Sports; in the first stage, regarding the allegations of "misconduct in office" in the Turkish Penal Code and "influencing the outcome of a match" in Law No. 6222 against 17 referees (A.K.K. - A.T. - B.K. - B.T. - B.E.A. - C.B. - E.A. - M.Y. - M.Ö. - N.O. - N.K. - S.E.T. - Ş.B. - U.T. - U.K. - Y.Y. - Y.Ş.),

-

-Regarding the allegations of "influencing the outcome of a match" in Law No. 6222 against the president of 1 football team in the Trendyol Super League (M.Ö.), the former owner of 1 team (T.C.), and a former association president (M.F.S.) due to the evaluation of actions aimed at influencing the outcome of a match in football leagues,

-Regarding the allegation of "publicly spreading misleading information" in the Turkish Penal Code against a person named U.E., who was evaluated as sharing misleading information and documents by making manipulative posts with unknown sources on social media during this investigation,

Search, seizure, and detention measures were applied to a total of 21 people at addresses in 12 different cities, including Istanbul.

Considering the size and sphere of influence in terms of quantity and quality of human factors such as players and referees, and institutional factors such as football clubs and governing bodies involved in our country's football leagues, which are the subject of the investigation, in this process where all evidence for and against must be collected completely and sensitively, the judicial investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and the administrative investigation conducted by the TFF regarding the alleged actions are two phenomena that must be evaluated differently in terms of the state of evidence, sanctions, and subsequent legal remedies. Just as the judicial evaluation of persons against whom the TFF conducts administrative proceedings may be different, it is possible to carry out separate judicial proceedings against persons against whom no action has been taken by the TFF. For this reason, these procedures have been established for the specific persons mentioned above as a result of ex officio evaluations, utilizing the disciplinary assessment made by the TFF within the scope of the current judicial investigation, but without being bound by the information and documents in this administrative process.

Considering the large number of players, technical personnel, administrators, and persons serving in any capacity in all football leagues in our country, as well as the matches that need to be examined; it should be known that investigations into such allegations will be continued decisively without interruption, primarily in light of the research to be carried out ex officio by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and in coordination with all relevant institutions and organizations, and that no unverified information from unknown sources, especially on social media, should be given credence,

Presented for public information. 07/11/2025

ISTANBUL CHIEF PUBLIC PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE

News Source: 12punto