Turkish Football Federation Investigates Referees Linked to Betting Accounts
Turkish authorities have opened a wide-ranging probe after hundreds of match officials were linked to betting accounts.
LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE:In Ankara on Monday, Turkish Football Federation (TFF) president İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu revealed an investigation into more than 150 referees in the country’s professional leagues for allegedly placing wagers on football matches. The announcement followed government checks that flagged betting activity among a large portion of active officials.
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Hacıosmanoğlu told reporters that government agencies found 371 of 571 active referees held at least one account with a betting operator. Of those, 152 referees were identified as having placed bets on soccer matches, including seven referees and 15 assistant referees who operate at the top domestic level. The federation said the disciplinary board will move quickly to examine each case.
Officials disclosed startling totals: 10 referees placed more than 10,000 wagers across a five-year span, and one referee was linked to as many as 18,227 bets. Some officials reportedly placed a single bet, while others engaged repeatedly, according to federation statements. Hacıosmanoğlu framed the probe as part of a wider effort to restore credibility to Turkish football, saying, "We know Turkish football needs a change. Our duty is to elevate Turkish football to its rightful place and to purge it of all its filth."
State investigators provided the betting-account data to the TFF, the federation said, a sign of interagency cooperation that may include the Ministry of Youth and Sports and law enforcement. Turkey tightly regulates gambling: most commercial online casinos are banned, and sports betting is predominantly routed through state-linked channels. The extent to which accounts involved foreign or illicit operators has not been disclosed publicly.
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The TFF disciplinary board has the authority to hand down sporting sanctions, from suspensions to lifetime bans, and could refer cases for criminal investigation if laws were broken. The federation has already moved to discipline referees after uncovering mass betting, and the wider fallout may draw the attention of continental bodies such as UEFA and FIFA, which have precedent for imposing further sanctions if match-fixing or integrity breaches are substantiated.
Sports integrity specialists say the scale of the findings is alarming and underscores the difficulty of policing betting in a globalised market. "When match officials are trading on the same markets they are supposed to police, the risk to competitive integrity becomes existential", said Dr. Selim Yildiz, a sports integrity consultant and former match observer. "Tackling this requires forensic analysis of betting patterns, transparent disciplinary processes, and swift cooperation between federations, prosecutors and betting regulators across borders."
Laura Mendes, a former integrity officer at a European governing body, noted the operational challenges: "Banning a referee is only part of the response. Leagues must also examine how appointments are made, improve monitoring of officials’ finances, and ensure education programmes on gambling rules are mandatory and enforced. Without systemic changes, you will simply displace the problem".
Legal experts caution that evidentiary thresholds for criminal charges and sporting sanctions differ. A referee may face a lifetime ban for violating federation rules even where criminal courts decline to prosecute. The TFF has indicated it will fast-track disciplinary hearings but has not provided a public timeline for rulings or appeals.
As the TFF moves forward, clubs, players and fans will be watching whether the federation’s actions restore confidence in domestic competitions. The investigation also raises broader questions about how football authorities and state regulators detect and deter betting-related risks among the sport’s own officials.
Further reporting will track the disciplinary board’s findings, any criminal referrals, and whether international football bodies decide to open parallel inquiries.
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