As reported by the Turkish state news agency Anadolu on Saturday, Ferhat Gündogdu, head of referees, was remanded in custody as part of a corruption investigation.
Gündogdu, chairman of the Referees’ Committee, was brought before a judge on Friday along with six other people on suspicion of match-fixing. The court subsequently ordered pre-trial detention for five of them, whilst the other two were released on bail.
Gündogdu and the other suspects had already been taken into custody on Tuesday following raids in four provinces. Justice Minister Akin Gürlek had outlined the facts of the case in detail on X, citing “allegations of interference in the compilation of referee rankings, in match assignments, in the assessment and appointment procedures, and in the rule examinations”.
Gürlek’s promise
“Judicial searches were carried out at their homes, workplaces and offices,” explained Gürlek. The Minister of Justice pledged to champion “clean football” in order to restore confidence in Turkish football.
On Thursday, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) had referred 448 club officials to the disciplinary committee as part of an investigation into betting fraud. A comprehensive list includes several dozen names of officials from top Turkish clubs, including the president of Trabzonspor, the vice-president of Beşiktaş, as well as several current and former representatives of Galatasaray and three former representatives of Fenerbahçe.
Scandal also occurred last year
In its statement, the TFF referred to a scandal from last year. On that occasion, the Disciplinary Committee had suspended 149 referees. The referees had been accused of betting on matches in breach of the ban imposed on them. They were sanctioned accordingly, with suspensions ranging from eight to twelve months.