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UEFA has confirmed that it remains in contact with the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) regarding the widening investigation into an alleged football betting scandal.
In a written statement to Turkish news agency ANKA, UEFA’s press office said, "UEFA is in contact with the Turkish Football Federation concerning this matter. We have no further comment at this stage."
The scandal has sent shockwaves through Turkish football, as prosecutors and the national federation uncover potential links between betting activity and match officials, players, and club executives—including in the country’s top-tier Super Lig.
TFF President Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu first disclosed details of the probe at a late-October press conference, revealing that 371 of the country’s 571 registered referees were found to hold betting accounts, while 152 were actively placing bets.
Following these findings, the TFF’s Professional Football Disciplinary Board convened on Oct. 31 and handed down suspensions ranging from eight to twelve months to 149 referees accused of betting violations. Investigations continue into three officials, including FIFA-listed referee Zorbay Kucuk.
On Nov. 7, Istanbul’s Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants for 21 individuals, including Eyupspor President Murat Ozkaya, former Kasimpasa SK Chairman Fatih Sarac, businessman and Kasimpasa owner Turgay Ciner, and 17 referees. Sarac was later released after giving testimony, while eight suspects—among them Ozkaya and several referees—were formally arrested and remanded pending trial.
On Monday, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced that it had referred the names of 1,024 players to its legal department for review, including 27 active Super Lig footballers. Among the suspects were four players from major Turkish clubs Besiktas and Galatasaray—Ersin Destanoglu and Necip Uysal from Besiktas, and Eren Elmali and Metehan Baltaci from Galatasaray.
Both Besiktas players denied the allegations and filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office, stating that their IDs and personal information had been used by others to place bets without their knowledge or consent.
Turkish national team left-back Eren Elmali acknowledged that he had previously held a betting account but said the matter stemmed from a single transaction made about five years ago on a match that did not involve his own team. However, the TFF announced that he has been removed from the national squad following the charges.
Under Türkiye’s Law on the Prevention of Violence and Irregularities in Sports, manipulating match results carries one to three years in prison and fines of up to 20,000 judicial days, with sentences increasing to five to twelve years if organized crime is involved.
The ongoing probe aims to determine whether betting activity influenced match outcomes or if evidence supports expanding the case into a full-scale match-fixing investigation.
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