Turkish Football Federation president calls gambling scandal a ‘moral crisis in Turkish football’.
Published November 11, 2025
Eight people have been arrested and more than 1,000 players suspended in Turkiye as a wide-ranging investigation into allegations of gambling on soccer matches has rocked the country’s football federation.
Turkish authorities formally arrested seven people on Monday, including Eyupspor’s top club president Murat Ozkaya, and the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) suspended 1,024 players pending a disciplinary investigation. Of the suspended players, 27 are playing in the country’s top league, Super Lig, including Galatasaray defender Eren Elmalli, who also represents the Turkish national team.
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Galatasaray said in a statement that it was “monitoring” the process and waiting for the investigation to be completed. Elmari said his suspension was related to a bet made five years ago on a team that was not his own, and that he has not placed any bets since then.
Those targeted in the investigation have been accused of abuse of power and match-fixing, among other charges.
The scandal came to light in late October, with TFF announcing that an investigation revealed that 371 out of 571 active professional league referees had gambling accounts, and 152 of them were actively gambling.
One referee placed 18,227 bets and 42 referees each placed bets on over 1,000 soccer matches. It turned out that the other person bet only once.
The third and fourth divisions of Turkiye, in which more than 900 suspects compete, have been suspended for the past two weeks.
The move comes after the TFF suspended 149 referees and assistant referees earlier this month after an investigation found that officials working for the country’s professional leagues had placed bets on soccer matches.
TFF president Ibrahim Hasiosmanoglu described the situation as a “moral crisis in Turkish football”.
