The Turkish Football Federation’s (TFF) sweeping betting scandal has erupted into one of the most consequential integrity crises in the nation’s sporting history, exposing years of unchecked gambling among referees, players and club executives, and triggering more than 1,100 suspensions that have shaken Turkish football from its elite clubs to its smallest provincial sides.
For a sport long haunted by allegations of favoritism, political influence and match-fixing, the scandal feels like a grim culmination.
The shadow of the 2011 “Şike” case never fully faded, nor did the shock of later incidents – from the 2015 shooting of Fenerbahçe’s team bus to the 2023 assault on FIFA referee Halil Umut Meler by MKE Ankaragücü president Faruk Koca.
By 2025, illegal betting, outlawed under both FIFA and TFF directives, had become deeply embedded in the system, fuelled by offshore websites and meager lower-league salaries.
When newly elected TFF president İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu ordered an internal audit to clean up the federation’s image, officials expected irregularities. They did not expect an earthquake.
On Oct. 30, the TFF announced that 371 of Türkiye’s 571 active referees possessed betting accounts.
Of those, 152 had placed wagers – including seven Süper Lig officials.
One referee logged more than 18,000 bets in five years; 42 others surpassed the 1,000-bet mark.
Though some insisted they never wagered on matches they officiated, FIFA bans all football-related betting, leaving little room for interpretation.
The investigation quickly expanded beyond the officiating corps. Players and executives – many of whom used their Turkish ID numbers to claim bonus coupons on offshore platforms – were swept into a widening probe.
Parallel investigations in Istanbul and Antalya began tracing potential match-fixing networks.
By early November, prosecutors issued detention orders for 21 individuals, arresting eight, including Eyüpspor chairman Murat Özkaya.
The TFF’s crackdown intensified on Nov. 10, when 1,024 players across the four professional tiers were suspended.
Twenty-seven came from the Süper Lig; the vast majority were lower-league athletes who had placed bets years earlier.
Match officials were hit next – 149 referees and assistants sidelined for up to a year, with several under deeper scrutiny.
In total, more than 1,100 names were forwarded to the Professional Football Disciplinary Board, with additional cases pending.
Penalties under TFF and FIFA rules range from 45-day bans to multi-year suspensions and fines of at least 100,000 Swiss francs.
Many players have denied wrongdoing, claiming accounts were created without their knowledge.
Hacıosmanoğlu has cast himself as the architect of a long-overdue purge. “We started by cleaning up our own backyard,” he declared on Nov. 24. “We will purge Turkish football of all its filth.”
High-profile names have been caught in the dragnet. Galatasaray defender Eren Elmalı received a 45-day ban, while teammate Metehan Baltacı was suspended for nine months.
Beşiktaş veterans Ersin Destanoğlu and Necip Uysal, along with Samsunspor midfielder Celil Yüksek, maintain their innocence and plan appeals.
Lower-division sides have borne the brunt of the fallout. In 3. Lig, Ağrı Spor saw 17 of its 24 players suspended for old bets, forcing the club to rebuild rapidly from its youth ranks ahead of a Nov. 30 fixture.
“We will continue to fight under all circumstances,” the club said in a defiant statement.
Across the country, depleted rosters have forced fixture delays; the 2. Lig and 3. Lig were paused for two weeks. Süper Lig and 1. Lig teams continue to compete with patched-up squads, while major clubs have publicly backed affected players and called for procedural fairness.
The national team has also been hit, with the absences of Elmalı and Baltacı complicating preparations for UEFA Nations League matches and 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
In response, the TFF extended the winter transfer window by 15 days and unveiled a series of reforms – from AI-enhanced VAR systems to a new whistleblower hotline – designed to strengthen governance and pre-empt future abuses. A full list of suspended players was published online in an unusual display of transparency.
UEFA and FIFA have quietly welcomed the investigative push, though analysts warn that the real test lies in consistent enforcement and long-term cultural change.
With disciplinary hearings still underway, some players may see reduced punishments if evidence shows identity misuse.
The match-fixing investigations in Istanbul could bring criminal indictments by early 2026, potentially exposing organized gambling networks that have operated in Turkish football for years.
