Turkey’s football federation has announced it will launch disciplinary proceedings after hundreds of its referees were discovered to have betting accounts.
371 out of a total of 571 active match officials in Turkey’s professional leagues were discovered to have accounts, of which 152 actively gamble, a federation investigation revealed.
The findings of the five-year investigation were announced in a press conference in Istanbul by Turkish football federation (TFF) president Ibrahim Ethem Haciosmanoglu, who said that seven of the referees were qualified to officiate in Turkey’s top two divisions.
“As a federation, we started by cleaning up our own backyard,” Haciosmanoglu said. “If we want to bring Turkish football to the place it deserves, we have to clean up whatever dirt there is.
“Among those found to have betting accounts were seven top-level referees, 15 top-level assistants, 36 classified referees, and 94 classified assistants.”
He said that 42 officials had bet on more than a thousand football matches, with one individual found to have placed 18,227 bets. Some others had only bet once. None of the officials were named.
Those found to have engaged in betting “will be referred to the disciplinary board and face the necessary penalties in accordance with our regulations,” Haciosmanoglu continued.
Match officials, players and coaches are all banned from betting under both the TTF’s regulations, Uefa’s and Fifa’s.
The penalty for those found guilty of betting on football matches ranges from a ban for three months to a year under the TFF’s disciplinary code. Fifa’s regulations say referees found to have placed bets can be fined 100,000 Swiss francs (£94,246) and be banned for up to three years from all activity in football.
Sadettin Saran, president of Super Lig club Fenerbahce, said: “This is both shocking and deeply saddening for Turkish football. But the fact that it is coming to light is a hopeful development.”
