New Wave of Arrests Hits Turkish Football Amid Widening Betting Probe

The chief public prosecutor’s office in Istanbul said operations were carried out simultaneously in 16 provinces, with 46 suspects targeted and 35 taken into custody in early-morning raids.

Among those detained was former referee and prominent TV pundit Ahmet Çakar, after suspicious financial transactions were discovered following an examination of his bank accounts.

Prosecutors also summoned Istanbul club Fenerbahçe midfielder Mert Hakan Yandaş to provide a statement, alleging he placed bets through another person’s account.

The scandal first erupted in October, when Turkish Football Federation (TFF) president İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu publicly disclosed that 371 referees were found to have betting accounts and 152 had actively placed bets. 

His remarks were treated as an official complaint, prompting prosecutors to open a broad investigation into referees, club personnel and players.

The first phase resulted in the detention of 21 suspects, eight of whom were later jailed pending trial.

The TFF subsequently ended the refereeing careers of 149 officials and issued months-long bans to many others.

As investigators expanded their scope, the federation referred 1,024 players from the top four divisions — including 27 from the Süper Lig, Turkey’s top-flight division — to its disciplinary board for betting offences.

More than 100 have already been banned for between 45 days and 12 months, including Süper Lig players such as Istanbul club Galatasaray’s Eren Elmalı and Metehan Baltacı, as well as several from the lower leagues.

The latest operation focused on players accused of betting on their own teams’ matches, club officials suspected of influencing game results and individuals flagged through suspicious financial activity.

Media reports note that prosecutors review bank records, phone data and information from legal betting platforms, with an ultimate goal of determining whether illegal betting was connected to match-fixing or organised criminal activity rather than isolated disciplinary breaches. Hacıosmanoğlu had previously warned that the probe will continue to widen, saying football cannot be cleaned up unless “every component of the game” is examined — from referees and players to coaches, medical staff and match officials.