In October last year, it was revealed that out of 571 active, professional referees in Turkey, 371 (65%) had registered betting accounts; this being a direct violation of FIFA and UEFA regulations, as reported by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) President, Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu.
π¨ π’πππππππ: A massive betting scandal has hit Turkish football:
β’ 571 active referees are registered in professional leagues.
β’ 371 have betting accounts.
β’ 152 are actively placing bets.
β’ 1 referee alone made 18,227 bets.
β’ 42 referees each bet on more than 1,000β¦ pic.twitter.com/PdfgPTxXdUβ The Touchline | π (@TouchlineX) October 28, 2025
What is more astonishing relates to the minutiae of the audit, with one referee in particular being found to have placed 18,227 bets over a period of five years, while at least 42 officials had been found to have wagered on more than 1,000 matches each.
Initially, the TFF suspended 149 match officials, with in excess of 1,000 players across all of Turkeyβs professional tiers, then eventually referred to disciplinary committees.
Even Bigger Than The Italian Scandal
One match in particular raised suspicion, after a second division match between Ankaraspor and Nazillispor in April 2024, showed considerable betting spikes when neither team registered a shot, while there were only two corners.
The initial investigation led to the uncovering of a web that was perhaps even more entangled than the great Italian football corruption scandal of the early 2000s, which caused a major decline in the reputation of many of the nationβs football clubs.
Because of the nature of the match, it triggered alarms when global betting monitors flagged a considerable influx of wagers on a draw, specifically from accounts that were linked with players and club officials, while the subsequent investigation uncovered a pattern of events.
Indeed, it was found that in one match featuring Goztepe, 5.5 million Turkish Lira was wagered on there being a red card via Northern Cypriot betting syndicates.
Multiple Raids And Arrests
In November the investigation shifted from a disciplinary to a criminal one, following detention orders being issued from the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor for 21 high-profile figures.
Among those that were arrested were Murat Ozkaya (President of Eyupspor), in addition to numerous elite referees, which indicated that the βBig Clean-upβ would not protect the rich and powerful.
All told, 1,024 footballers faced disciplinary action, with players such as Eren Elmali pulled from the Turkish national team for World Cup qualifying games.
How The Issue Was Resolved
With so many referees under investigation and pulled from their positions, it meant that there were many football matches that did not have the required number of officials. As a result, it meant that the TFF had to turn to Europe and hire foreign referees, that included Danny Makkelie from the Netherlands for the big derby between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce.
Following the βBig Clean-upβ, it meant that the TFF had essentially rebooted the entire refereeing system, providing opportunities to young and uncorrupted referees to replace disgraced veterans, via a fast track scheme from 81 provinces and launching integrity courses at Yeditepe University.
What is perhaps eye-opening about this scandal is the sheer scale and audacity of it and, one might say, βnaivetyβ. What happened in Italy showed that scandals like this can be easily uncovered and it makes you question why individuals think they wonβt get caught.