Breaking News... Mert Hakan Yandaş released

The trial of Fenerbahçe's experienced midfielder Mert Hakan Yandaş, who is being prosecuted on charges of illegal betting and match-fixing in football, began today. In the hearing held at the Istanbul 3rd Criminal Court of First Instance, Yandaş made his defense for the first time as a detained defendant.

While there was significant activity in front of the Çağlayan Courthouse in the morning, many members of the yellow-navy club's management and players arrived at the courthouse. Fenerbahçe President Sadettin Saran, Sporting Director Devin Özek, and head coach Domenico Tedesco, as well as former president Ali Koç, were seen present at the courthouse.

FULL SUPPORT FROM FENERBAHÇE

Before the hearing, the Fenerbahçe community gathered in large numbers at the courthouse to show support for Yandaş. Many of his teammates were present in the courtroom to demonstrate that they stand with both Yandaş and the club. Fans also showed their support in front of the courthouse with Fenerbahçe flags.

In the further stages of the case, it is expected that new evidence and witnesses regarding the allegations will be presented to the court.

In his statement during the hearing, Mert Hakan said, "First of all, I do not accept any of the charges brought against me; I did not facilitate betting for anyone. Throughout my life, I have never had a membership on Nesine or Misli. I want you to know how much I love Fenerbahçe and that I would never harm Fenerbahçe. I would like to say that this is a character assassination because I chose Fenerbahçe. There was confidentiality, but my file was distorted by being shared page by page, piece by piece. I think I am paying the price for an interview I gave after a match. Everyone knows that match very well. I know how I came into this file, and my lawyers know it too. Because I chose Fenerbahçe 6 years ago. Do you think someone who has paid these prices would betray Fenerbahçe? Would someone who has been a tax record-holder fix a match for a few thousand liras? My struggle will continue. I am still the honorable, clean, and dignified athlete who made a promise to his father at the age of 9."

"I SENT 7 THOUSAND LIRAS TO ERSIN DIKMEN. I DON'T KNOW WHAT HE DID WITH IT"

Speaking about his relationship with Ersin Dikmen, Yandaş said, "I met Ersen Dikmen on social media 15 years ago. Our friendship grew. Ersen brother was always by my side during difficult days. I was always by his side as well. The financial relationship between us is limited to this. It is based on loyalty and brotherhood. I sent him 7 thousand liras. I don't know what he did with it," he stated.

When asked about his conversations with Dikmen, Mert Hakan concluded his defense by saying, "These are conversations I always have with everyone. There is not a single conversation about a Fenerbahçe match in my chats. I played to win every match I played in for Fenerbahçe, everywhere and in every way."

THE INDICTMENT AGAINST MERT HAKAN YANDAŞ

An indictment was prepared against Mert Hakan Yandaş, who was arrested on December 9, 2025, as part of the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, along with Ersin Dikmen.

The indictment stated that as a result of the investigation into betting and match-fixing allegations in football, investigation proceedings were initiated against the suspect Yandaş after it was determined that he had membership records on the electronic-based betting sites "Misli" and "Nesine" while he was a professional footballer at the time of the alleged crime.

The indictment noted that investigation proceedings were also initiated against Dikmen after MASAK reports revealed a heavy flow of money between Yandaş and Ersen Dikmen, and that the money sent by Yandaş to Dikmen was transferred to betting sites within a short time. It was also stated in the indictment that, as understood from TFF records, Yandaş was a footballer for the Fenerbahçe Sports Club team at the time of the crime.

The indictment pointed out that Yandaş had a membership record on the legal betting site "Bilyoner" since March 13, 2017, and that the suspect had information on approximately 932 different coupon IDs between 2017 and 2019, but the contents could not be determined because the bets were from past years, and that it was determined he had been placing betting coupons through suspect Ersen Dikmen since 2019.

It was recorded in the indictment that HTS records obtained from the BTK to determine the contacts between suspects Yandaş and Dikmen were submitted to an expert for examination, and according to the expert report that arrived in the file on December 24, 2025, it was determined that the suspects were in frequent contact with each other.

MASAK REPORT

According to the MASAK report prepared on Yandaş, the indictment stated that he transferred a total of 4 million 453 thousand 62 liras to Dikmen between December 4, 2021, and October 26, 2025, that Dikmen sent the entire amount in question to the betting platform "Bilyoner İnteraktif Hizmetler AŞ" within a short time, and that it was understood that Dikmen also sent a total of 2 million 60 thousand 974 liras to suspect Yandaş.

The indictment, which noted that Dikmen is a 100 percent partner of İmpar Lojistik Depoculuk ve Nakliyat Ltd. Şti., stated that it was determined that Dikmen sent all the money transfers coming from Yandaş to "Bilyoner İnteraktif Hizmetler AŞ" within a short time and additionally transferred money to other gambling platforms systematically.

The indictment pointed out that data obtained from "Bilyoner İnteraktif Hizmetler AŞ" showed that a total of 4 million 480 thousand 382 liras were deposited into the account opened in Dikmen's name between 2021 and 2025 through 517 transactions, and 612 thousand liras were withdrawn through 10 transactions; it was determined that there were 11 thousand 455 different coupon numbers in the same year range, and there were betting transactions in football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, ice hockey, and motor sports.

The indictment included that data obtained from "Nesine" showed that 1 million 635 thousand 783 liras were deposited into the account opened in Dikmen's name between 2021 and 2025 through 359 transactions, and 472 thousand 605 liras were withdrawn through 30 transactions; there were 1485 different coupon numbers in the same years, and betting transactions in football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, ice hockey, and motor sports were found.

In the indictment, it was recorded that data obtained from "Misli Elektronik Şans Oyunları ve Yayıncılık AŞ" showed that 913 thousand 199 liras were deposited into the account opened in Dikmen's name through 204 transactions and 175 thousand liras were withdrawn through 11 transactions in the same years.

The indictment emphasized that since it was seen that Dikmen sent all the money transfers coming from Yandaş to his account at "Bilyoner İnteraktif Hizmetler AŞ," it was determined that Dikmen had been betting on Fenerbahçe Sports Club football matches through the "Bilyoner" platform on and after December 4, 2021, the date he started receiving money transfers from Yandaş.

Additionally, information was included that suspect Yandaş had money transfer relationships with 28 real or legal persons who had intelligence information about them in the MASAK Presidency database within the scope of illegal betting and gambling.

REPLIES FROM LEGAL BETTING COMPANIES

The indictment included the following statements: "As understood from TFF records, regarding the bets placed by suspect Mert Hakan Yandaş with suspect Ersen Dikmen while he was a Fenerbahçe footballer at the time of the crime, the examination of the reply letter from the betting company 'Bilyoner' to suspect Ersen Dikmen revealed 182 betting coupon records in favor of or against Fenerbahçe between September 1, 2019, and November 23, 2025; the examination of the reply letter from the betting company 'Misli' to suspect Ersen Dikmen revealed 93 betting coupon records in favor of or against Fenerbahçe between April 5, 2021, and August 12, 2025."

The indictment stated that the examination of the reply letter from the betting company "Nesine" revealed that suspect Ersen Dikmen had 136 betting coupon records in favor of or against Fenerbahçe between April 5, 2021, and November 6, 2025.

The indictment stated that the suspects placed bets on other sports such as football and basketball, in addition to bets on match results in favor of or against Fenerbahçe, and also placed special combination bets such as "player receives a card, player commits at least 3 fouls, player shoots on target, player draws a foul, player scores in both halves."

The indictment also described that the examination of digital materials seized from Dikmen revealed message records in a WhatsApp group named "Boş muhabbetler" (Empty Talk), created on November 23, 2021, where the user of the examined device was the administrator and Mert Hakan Yandaş was a participant, which were evaluated as potentially related to the subject of the investigation.

The indictment, which stated that Yandaş's digital examination revealed access records to illegal betting and legal betting sites in his internet browser, noted that the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) Football Disciplinary Instructions prohibit footballers from betting directly or indirectly.

The indictment stated that it was understood that Yandaş was on the team roster as a professional contracted footballer for the Fenerbahçe Club men's football team in the matches subject to the investigation, and his status for playing in the match was "can play at the discretion of the technical staff."

The indictment recorded that although Yandaş declared in his defense that he did not accept the charges against him, the examination found evidence that the suspect had placed bets in favor of or against the sports club he served through Ersen Dikmen.

The indictment emphasized that considering Yandaş's status as "can play at the discretion of the technical staff" and his possession of detailed information about the tactical plan and the course of the game within the team, it must be accepted that the suspect had a direct and indirect influence on the result and course of the match, and thus the suspect's goal was not the income to be obtained from the match, but the income to be obtained as a result of the betting.

It was stated that suspect Yandaş committed the crime of "opposing Law No. 6222" by betting to gain personal profit, independent of the football team he played for.

The indictment reported that Yandaş possessed information and data not open to everyone, such as the tactical plan of the teams, the physical condition of the players, and the course of the game regarding the match, and as can be understood from the report on the digital materials seized from him, the suspect had information about details not open to everyone regarding the team he was contractually bound to.

The indictment stated that Yandaş shared this information with suspect Dikmen, and in this context, it must be accepted that he had secret information/data and a privileged position compared to other bettors regarding the matches on which bets were placed; on the other hand, it was evaluated that the suspect had a direct and indirect influence on the result and course of the match because his status for playing in the matches was "can play at the discretion of the technical staff."

The indictment also conveyed that Yandaş had a direct and indirect influence on the result and course of the match by being on the team roster, and was in a position to change the result of the match by taking part in the match in line with the discretion of the technical staff.

The indictment included that the suspect did not disclose his status/position to the betting site "Nesine," thereby hiding that he had secret information/data and a privileged position compared to other bettors regarding the match on which bets were placed.

The indictment included the finding: "It has been understood that the suspects committed the charged crime with the intention of causing damage to the only authorized company that regulates sports betting on sports competitions in Turkey and distributes the income obtained."

The indictment, which requested that Yandaş and Dikmen be sentenced to 4 to 13 years in prison each for the crimes of "qualified fraud" and "match-fixing and incentive bonuses," was sent to the Istanbul 3rd Criminal Court of First Instance for evaluation.

RELEASED

A release decision was issued for Fenerbahçe footballer Mert Hakan Yandaş.

News Source: 12punto