Turkey’s sweeping crackdown on insider betting within its football leagues is expected to intensify, with Istanbul’s chief prosecutor Akin Gürlek announcing that the investigation will soon expand to include a wider circle of football insiders, from club presidents and directors to coaches and commentators.
The probe began earlier this month when the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) suspended 149 referees and assistants after uncovering evidence that match officials in professional leagues had been betting on games. The scandal escalated last week with the arrest of eight individuals, including the chairman of a major club, and the suspension of 1,024 players who had previously been banned by the TFF. As a result, second- and third-division fixtures were paused for two weeks.
Gürlek said additional operations are imminent:
“We want to fully clean our football. Whoever was involved in manipulation, we are pursuing them,” he told local media. Investigators are examining possible links between club executives, referees, coaches and commentators, suggesting the scandal may run deeper than initially assumed.
The investigation is being conducted in cooperation with UEFA and Interpol, and authorities are also tracking Turkish nationals suspected of illegal betting activity in Montenegro, Cyprus and Georgia. Gürlek confirmed that prosecutors are awaiting responses from several foreign gambling companies whose platforms were used by Turkish suspects.
The TFF has not yet commented, although its chairman, İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu, recently acknowledged a “moral crisis” within Turkish football. Internal federation research revealed that 371 out of 571 referees in Turkey’s professional leagues held gambling accounts.
Under Turkey’s sports disciplinary regulations, anyone found to have influenced a match or accepted payments tied to match manipulation faces a lifetime ban. If club administrators are involved, their clubs may face relegation and significant financial penalties.
