Saturday, December 6, 2025 - Istanbul prosecutors have ordered the arrest of forty-six people, including twenty-nine football players, in a widening investigation into illegal betting that has sent shockwaves through Turkish football.
According to a statement from the Istanbul public
prosecutor’s office, twenty-seven of the arrested players are suspected of
placing bets on matches involving their own teams. One of those named is
Metehan Baltaci of Turkish champions Galatasaray, who was already suspended for
nine months earlier this month over the same scandal.
The investigation has intensified since November, when six
referees and the president of Eyupspor, a Super Lig club, were placed in
pretrial detention. Prosecutors did not release the names of the remaining
twenty-six players suspected of betting on their own team’s games, but
confirmed that Fenerbahce midfielder Mert Hakan Yandas allegedly placed wagers
through another person’s account.
Authorities say thirty five of the forty-six individuals
targeted in the latest arrest order have already been detained, while five
others are believed to be outside Turkey. The group includes two club
presidents accused of attempting to influence the outcome of a third division
match during the 2023 to 2024 season. The fixture reportedly drew
investigators’ attention when neither side attempted to score, prompting
suspicion of manipulation.
The Turkish Football Federation has so far suspended more
than one thousand players, including twenty five from the Super Lig, with bans
ranging from forty-five days to twelve months. Only one foreign player has been
sanctioned: Konyaspor’s Senegalese winger Alassane Ndao, suspended for a year.
The majority of those punished, more than nine hundred, come from lower league
teams.
In October, the federation dismissed nearly one hundred
fifty referees after suspending them for betting on matches, underscoring the
scale of the crisis now engulfing Turkish football.
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