ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Turkish prosecutors on Friday issued detention warrants for 21 people, including 17 referees and the president of a top-flight soccer club, as part of an expanded investigation. caught up in a gambling scandal.
At least 18 suspects were detained for questioning in early morning raids across Istanbul and 11 other provinces, the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office said. The 17 referees, identified only by their initials, are under investigation on suspicion of “abuse of authority” and “influencing the outcome of matches.”
Murat Ozkaya, chairman of Turkish Super Lig club Eyupspor, and former Kasimpasa owner Fatih Salak are also being questioned as part of the investigation, Cumhuriyet and other media reported. Mr Kasimpasa was placed in trust in September following a separate corruption investigation into the holding company that previously owned the club.
The scandal broke after the Turkish Football Federation suspended 149 referees and assistant referees last week. TFF Chairman Ibrahim Hasiosmanoglu reveals The government agency announced that it determined that 371 of the 571 active referees held gambling company accounts. Of these, 152 referees are said to have placed bets on soccer matches, including seven top-level referees and 15 top-level assistant referees.
Hasiosmanoglu added that the 10 umpires each bet on more than 10,000 matches over five years, but some umpires only bet on one match. A referee is said to have placed bets on 18,227 matches, raising serious concerns about the integrity of referees in Turkish football.
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