Turkey imposes bans on 102 players in gambling probe
FILE PHOTO: A logo of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) is seen at the entrance of Riva Hasan Dogan national team training centre and education facilities in Istanbul, Turkey December 12, 2023. REUTERS/Dilara Senkaya/File Photo
ANKARA :Turkey's football federation (TFF) on Thursday imposed bans of various lengths against 102 players from its league's top two tiers as part of a probe into alleged betting on matches, with Galatasaray's Eren Elmali and Metehan Baltaci among those sanctioned.
Earlier this month, the TFF suspended 149 referees and assistant referees after an investigation found that officials working in the country's professional leagues were betting on football matches.
The probe widened on Monday with the arrest of eight people, including the chairman of a top-tier club, and the suspension of 1,024 players from all leagues as the investigation continues. Matches in the second and third-tier leagues were also suspended for two weeks.
In a statement, the TFF's Professional Football Disciplinary Council (PFDK) announced the bans that local media said involved 25 players from the top-tier Super Lig and 77 players from the second tier.
Under the measure, the PFDK imposed bans of 45 days and nine months on Elmali and Baltaci, respectively. Bans ranged from 45 days up to 12 months for some players.
The PFDK did not announce any measures against the remaining players in the probe.
TFF President Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu has described the situation as a "moral crisis in Turkish football".
Its own investigation revealed that 371 of 571 active referees in Turkey's professional leagues had betting accounts, and 152 of them were actively gambling.
One referee had bet 18,227 times and 42 referees had bet on more than 1,000 football matches each. Others were found to have bet only once.
