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The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) board will convene Friday, Oct. 9, for an extraordinary meeting to hold an election, following a series of arrests in a widening investigation into Turkish refereeing that includes allegations of illegal betting and misconduct.
The decision comes after five people, including Central Referee Board Chairman Ferhat Gundogdu, were arrested in the investigation last week, while two others were released under judicial control.
The TFF has been under mounting pressure as the investigation has reached senior figures within its refereeing structure. Gundogdu resigned as head of the Central Referee Board on Oct. 3, citing the ongoing judicial process and the need to prevent the investigation from disrupting the federation's work.
The developments have also prompted the resignation of TFF board member Mevlut Aktan. He announced his resignation on social media, arguing that the current administration had failed to demonstrate the knowledge, experience, vision, and organizational capacity required to run Turkish football.
He accused the leadership of failing to fulfill commitments made to delegates, including measures intended to strengthen the sport's economic structure, brand value and long-term sustainability.
Aktan also criticized the way decisions were being made inside the federation, arguing that too much authority had been concentrated within a narrow group and that dissenting views had not been given enough space.
"The Turkish Football Federation cannot be run like a family business," Aktan said, criticizing the way the organization was being managed under President Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu, who has led the board since July 2024.
The investigation began with allegations concerning the treatment and management of referees and has expanded as prosecutors examined financial and digital records. Justice Minister Akin Gurlek has described the probe as focusing on alleged interference in referee classifications, match assignments, evaluations and rules examinations.
The case has since widened to include Super Lig referee Yasin Kol and assistant referee Goktug Hazar Erel, who were also detained and later remanded in custody. Turkish authorities are investigating allegations including match-fixing, illegal betting, forgery of official documents and abuse of office.
The latest developments come as Turkish football faces a separate crackdown on betting involving club officials. The TFF provisionally suspended 448 current and former club officials on Oct. 1 after determining that they had placed bets while holding positions at clubs in the top two divisions over the past five years. About 171 of those suspended were affiliated with Super Lig clubs.
The move follows last year's betting investigation, in which the TFF suspended 149 referees after finding that 371 of 571 referees working in Turkey's professional leagues had betting accounts and 152 had actively placed bets. More than 1,000 players were also suspended in the wider crackdown.
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