Gambling Scandal, Turkey Arrests 17 Referees And Club Presidents

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JAKARTA - Turkish prosecutors ordered the arrest of 21 people, including 17 unnamed referees and head of the Super Lig club, as part of an investigation into the alleged soccer game betting scandal.

So far, 18 of the 21 suspects have been detained, reports the Anadolu government-owned news agency.

The move comes a week after the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) suspended 149 referees and assistant referees after an investigation found officials working in the country's professional league betting on a football game.

As reported by Reuters on Friday, November 7, Istanbul's Attorney General's Office declared the detention of the 17 referees on the basis of abuse of duty and manipulation of the results of the match. A president of the Super Lig club, a former club owner, and a former president of the association was also ordered to be detained on suspicion of fixing the match score, the statement said.

Another person is threatened with arrest for spreading misleading information on social media as part of operations in 12 cities in Turkey, the statement said.

In a separate investigation, the TFF disciplinary board has imposed a eight to 12 month ban on referees for engaging in betting activities.

TFF President Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu described this situation as "a moral crisis in Turkish football".

His investigation revealed that 371 of the 571 active referees in the Turkish professional league had betting accounts, and 152 of them were actively gambling.

One referee has bet 18,227 times, and 42 referees have each made a bet on more than 1,000 football games. Other referees are known to only bet once.