‘Purge it of all its filth’: inside the betting scandal gripping Turkish football

Turkey’s clubs and the national team have been affected by the investigation started by the country’s football federation. Photograph: Hesham Elsherif/Getty Images

Everything in Turkish football, it seemed, was going too well. Galatasaray have been flying in the Champions League, powered by Victor Osimhen. Arda Güler is soaring at Real Madrid with goals and assists. Even the men’s national team, under Vincenzo Montella, have looked their most promising in years.

But it would not be Turkish football without drama and drama is what the hardline president of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu, has delivered.