18 arrested in Turkey as referees investigated over betting suspicions | OneFootball

Eighteen people were detained in Turkey as part of an investigation into football referees suspected of having bet on matches, announced the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office this Friday.

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In total, 21 individuals, including 17 referees and the president of Eyüpspor, a club in the country's first division, are subject to an arrest warrant.

The owner of Kasimpasa, another first division team from Istanbul, as well as a former club president, are also to be interrogated.

Charges under review

The judiciary is investigating suspicions of “abuse of functions” and “influencing the outcome of a match”.

Previous TFF suspensions

The Disciplinary Council of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) had already suspended last week 149 referees accused of betting on games, violating the prohibition imposed by serving as sports judges.

The suspensions last for eight to twelve months, detailed the TFF, without specifying if some of the implicated referees are suspected of having bet on matches they officiated.

Result of internal audit

An investigation by the federation into 571 Turkish referees revealed, at the end of October, that 152 of them, including 22 who work in the first division, “actively bet” on matches.

Referees' reaction

In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, these referees denounced “hateful accusations”, stating that none of them ever bet on a match they officiated.

Some of them also claim that their bets date back to a time when they were amateur referees.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.