Turkey Arrests 29 Footballers Over Betting Scandal
Istanbul prosecutors on Friday ordered the arrest of 46 individuals, including 29 football players, in a wide-ranging investigation into illegal betting on Turkish matches.
The prosecutor’s office said 27 of the players are suspected of placing bets on games involving their own teams.
Among them is Metehan Baltaci of reigning champions Galatasaray, who had already been suspended for nine months earlier this month over the scandal.
The investigation has shaken Turkish football, with six referees placed in pre-trial detention on November 10, alongside the president of Eyupspor, a top-division club.
While the prosecutors did not name all 26 players suspected of betting on their own teams, they noted that Fenerbahce’s Mert Hakan Yandas allegedly placed bets through another person’s account.
So far, police have detained 35 of the 46 individuals named in the arrest order, with five confirmed to be abroad.
Two club presidents were also targeted for allegedly attempting to influence the result of a match between their third-division teams in the 2023–24 season.
Investigators were drawn to the game after reports that neither side attempted to score, sparking the wider probe.
The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) has suspended over 1,000 players in connection with the scandal, including 25 from the Super Lig.
Suspensions range from 45 days to 12 months. Only one foreign player — Konyaspor’s Senegalese winger Alassane Ndao — received a 12-month ban.
Most affected players are from the third and fourth divisions.
In October, the TFF suspended nearly 150 referees for betting, all of whom have since been dismissed.
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