The betting scandal in Turkey regarding professional football referees (nearly one third were found to be gambling in sports betting sites, casting doubts about their impartiality and the possibility of fixed matches) has escalated and over one thousand professional players have been suspended by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) disciplinary committee on charges of betting on matches.
Prosecutors in the country issued arrest warrants for 21 people, including 17 referees. Some were arrested on Friday and released on bail on Monday, some are still under arrest warrent, including Murat Ozkaya, the president of Eyupsport, a club that plays in Superlig, top division in Turkey. But suspects go beyond referees and presidents to the players themselves, who have placed sports bets, which obviously raises suspicions about their integrity.
27 players from Superlig suspended after placing bets, one of them from Galatasaray and Turkish national team
Of the 1,024 players suspended, more than 900 play in third and fourth divisions. All matches in those leagues have been cancelled for the past two weeks. 27 of the suspended players play for clubs in the Super Lig, including Istanbul giants Galatasaray and Besiktas, as reported by DW.
One of them, Galatasaray left back Eren Elmali, was also dropped from Turkish' national team before the upcoming World Cup qualifiers games against Bulgaria and Spain this week and the next. Elmali defended himself, saying that the allegations against him come from a single bet he placed years ago, and not involving his team.
Turkish Football Federation president talks of a "moral crisis"
Some players and referees under suspicion have placed only one or a few bets, but some placed hundreds and even thousands; ten referees placed more than 10,000 bets in the last five years, one of them 18,227, according to EuroNews.
TFF President Ibrahim Hacıosmanoğlu described the situation two weeks ago as a "moral crisis in Turkish football" and their duty is "to elevate Turkish football to its rightful place and to purge it of all its filth". They have also requested FIFA a 15-day extension to the winter transfer window so clubs can deal with shortages caused by the player suspensions.