Turkish FA Bans 102 Players For Betting

Turkey’s Football Federation has given bans to 102 players from its top two divisions for “betting-related activities”.

The punishments were of varying lengths, ranging from three to 12 months, and involve 25 players from the top-tier Super Lig.

They include two players from champions Galatasaray – Eren Elmali and Metehan Baltaci – who were handed bans of 45 days and nine months respectively.

The rulings by the Professional Football Disciplinary Board (PFDK) in Turkey become final after the seven-day appeal period expires.

The disciplinary action comes after the TFF suspended 1,024 players from its professional leagues on Tuesday as part of an investigation into betting.

Following the move, matches in the third and fourth divisions of Turkish football were postponed for two weeks.

“I want to make it clear that the reason my name appears in this file is because, about five years ago, a bet was placed on a match involving my former team, without my knowledge or involvement,” Elmali wrote in an Instagram story post.

“Since that day, I have had no connection whatsoever to betting or this issue.”

Galatasaray said the club would “meticulously” follow the “sensitive process”.

The scandal initially hit the headlines on 27 October, when TFF president Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu said hundreds of referees were linked to betting accounts.

Haciosmanoglu claimed that out of 571 referees working in Turkey’s professional leagues, 371 had betting accounts and 152 were actively placing wagers.

He said the group included seven referees and 15 assistant referees from Turkey’s top two divisions, as well as 36 “classified” referees and 94 assistants from the level below.

The TFF president added that 10 referees each placed more than 10,000 bets. One referee placed 18,227, while 142 referees placed bets on more than 1,000 matches. Some referees only placed a single bet.

Like players and coaches, match officials are forbidden from participating in betting activities by TFF regulations, as well as those of Fifa and European governing body Uefa.

Turkish prosecutors recently issued detention orders for 21 people – including 17 referees and two football club presidents – as part of a major investigation into betting and match fixing.

BBC News Turkish has also confirmed Murat Ozkaya, chairman of Super Lig side Eyupspor, has been arrested, as well as six referees and one other individual.