Istanbul: The head of Turkiye's football refereeing body and six other people have been arrested as part of a graft investigation, Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said yesterday.
“Claims regarding interference in the processes of referee classification, assignments, scoring and appointments, as well as in the examinations on rules, have been investigated,” he wrote on X.
Among those arrested was Ferhat Gundogdu, president of the refereeing body, and his vice-president, with searches carried out at all of the suspects’ “homes, workplaces and offices”.
“We will steadfastly continue the fight for clean football so that claims undermining trust in Turkish football are clarified (and) those responsible are held accountable,” Gurlek said.
The move comes a year after Turkiye’s Football Federation (TFF) suspended 149 referees over allegations of involvement in an illegal betting scandal.
In a statement on its website which did not mention the arrests, the TFF said it was “working resolutely” to restore public faith in “clean football”.
Without making a direct link to the earlier scandal, the TFF said it had “resolutely tackled the issue of betting and illegal betting”, fully supporting the work of the interior, justice, and youth and sport ministries, and that “the investigation and cooperation process with (them) is still ongoing”
