Turkish court orders pre-trial detention for 11 players in betting case | OneFootball

A court in Istanbul ordered on Monday the preventive detention of 11 football players from the first and second divisions of Turkey, nine of whom are accused of betting on games of their own teams, reported the Turkish media.

Among the five first division players accused are Metehan Baltaci, a defender for Galatasaray; Alassane Ndao, a Senegalese winger for Konyaspor; and Mert Hakan Yandas, a midfielder for Fenerbahçe, accused of placing bets through third parties.

The judges ordered the preventive detention of another nine suspects, including the presidents of two third division clubs accused of match-fixing during the 2023-2024 season.

Nineteen suspects were released under judicial supervision, including four players from the Süper Lig, the first division of Turkish football. About 40 people were arrested last week as part of a broad investigation conducted by the Istanbul prosecutor's office into suspicions of illegal betting and match-fixing.

These investigations, which have shaken Turkish football, had already led to the arrest, at the beginning of November, of six Turkish referees and the president of Eyüspor, a first division club.

The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) also dismissed approximately 150 referees last month, accusing them of actively betting on matches.

The TFF, claiming to want to "clean up" Turkish football, imposed suspensions of up to 12 months on 25 first division players and nearly a thousand others playing in the second, third, and fourth divisions for the same reason.

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