Turkish football woke to another seismic jolt on Friday as prosecutors rolled out a sweeping pre-dawn operation that pulled players, club executives, agents and even former referee-turned-television provocateur Ahmet Çakar into custody, deepening a betting scandal already shaking the sport from its foundations.
By midday, the aftershocks had intensified: Fenerbahçe captain Mert Hakan Yandaş and Galatasaray defender Metehan Baltacı were detained in a second wave, thrusting the scandal squarely into the heart of the Süper Lig’s most powerful clubs.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed at least 46 early-morning detentions across multiple provinces, the most aggressive phase yet of an investigation expanding steadily from the Süper Lig down to amateur leagues.
Authorities say many of the suspects are tied to manipulated performances, coordinated betting rings and insider leaks funneled to offshore gambling hubs.
Most wagers were allegedly placed on 2. Lig and 3. Lig matches, where oversight is thinner and players operate on tighter budgets.
Investigators seized encrypted chats, bank transfers and electronic devices they believe map out a sophisticated network of match manipulation embedded in the lower divisions.
Yet Friday’s second wave made clear the reach now extends far beyond them.
Çakar under fire
The most dramatic moment of the dawn raids came at the Istanbul home of Ahmet Çakar, the 60-year-old former referee whose fiery, often polarizing TV commentary has made him one of Turkish sports media’s most recognizable figures.
Prosecutors suspect he used behind-the-scenes connections to pass sensitive information to betting groups, from early lineup intel to insights on referees.
He has not commented, but his detention reignited a national debate over the blurred intersection of influence, media and integrity.
The scandal’s momentum, however, accelerated sharply just hours later.
Yandaş and Baltacı detained
Shortly after 6:00 a.m., investigators detained Fenerbahçe captain Mert Hakan Yandaş at his Istanbul residence.
The 30-year-old midfielder, known for his bite, leadership and Europa League pedigree, is accused of placing bets on his own team’s fixtures through offshore platforms.
Digital records reportedly track his betting activity as far back as 2014, marking a stunning turn for a player central to Fenerbahçe’s recent resurgence.
The club has not issued a statement, but senior officials have convened an emergency board meeting to assess the fallout.
Alongside him, Galatasaray defender Metehan Baltacı was rearrested, deepening his already blemished disciplinary record.
The 24-year-old academy product had been suspended for nine months in November by the Professional Football Disciplinary Board for repeated betting violations, but investigators say new evidence recovered in Friday’s seizures links him to coordinated wagers on 2. Lig fixtures and possibly to broader match-fixing cells.
Baltacı, who debuted in the Süper Lig in 2023 and recently returned to training after his ban, now faces an indefinite absence pending formal charges.
Their detentions bring the number of footballers in custody to 27 – an escalation that drags the scandal unmistakably into Türkiye’s biggest clubs.
This sprawling investigation began exploding in late October, when Turkish Football Federation (TFF) President İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu revealed that internal audits had uncovered betting accounts linked to 371 referees.
Of those, 152 had placed bets on matches they officiated or could influence. One referee alone made more than 18,000 bets, many concentrated on lower-division fixtures.
Hacıosmanoğlu called the revelations a "cancer” consuming Turkish football and vowed an uncompromising purge that would extend "from referees to players, coaches, doctors, interpreters – everyone inside the system.”
The response was immediate. Within 24 hours of his announcement, prosecutors launched the first wave of arrests, jailing referees and administrators and detaining Eyüpspor president Murat Özkaya, accused of applying pressure during promotion playoffs.
Soon afterward, the TFF banned 149 referees for eight to 12 months, clearing out nearly an entire officiating tier overnight.
By mid-November, the scope widened drastically.
On Nov. 11, the TFF referred over 1,000 footballers for disciplinary review – an unprecedented cross-section spanning the Süper Lig to amateur sides.
Two days later, 102 players were suspended, including early red flags tied to Baltacı.
The TFF urged leniency for isolated mistakes but said repeated betting represented "irreparable damage” to integrity. Cooperation with the Youth and Sports Ministry, FIFA and UEFA intensified as officials sought to frame the crisis not as an isolated Turkish phenomenon but part of a global fight against illegal wagering.
More than 1,100 bans have now been issued to referees, players, coaches and support staff, and the number continues to climb.
The deepest shockwaves remain centered in the lower divisions, where investigators have zeroed in on suspicious fixtures from the 2023-24 season – particularly in the 2. Lig’s Red and White Groups.
Unusual draws, synchronized substitutions and tactical patterns raised red flags, and intercepted WhatsApp messages allegedly show groups of players timing fouls, slowing tempo or coordinating in-match actions to meet betting lines, sometimes while communicating with agents tied to networks in Malta and Curaçao.
Clubs in crosshairs
The consequences for clubs have been immediate and harsh.
Some teams entered the winter window with 15%-20% of their squads dismantled overnight due to suspensions or arrests.
Diyarbekirspor and Ağrıspor remain among the most heavily scrutinized, with a combined 35 players referred and multiple executives detained.
Karacabey Belediye, Afjet Afyonspor and other 3. Lig sides face more than 100 referrals tied to offshore networks.
Even Süper Lig giants have not escaped: Galatasaray and Trabzonspor have players suspended, while Fenerbahçe’s midfield structure has now been thrown into disarray with Yandaş’s detention.
The instability echoes across the top tier.
Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray, now directly entangled, risk sponsorship losses estimated at 20 million ($23.3 million).
Trabzonspor is under administrative review, and Eyüpspor remains the scandal’s most prominent early casualty.
Meanwhile, prosecutors say digital forensics show "systematic betting on self-matches,” with more than 1,000 transactions routed through unregulated apps.
Illegal betting, the TFF estimates, siphoned as much as 50 million euros from Turkish football in 2025 alone.
Public trust is eroding at speed: Nielsen data shows viewership down 15% across the season.
As suspects continue giving statements at Istanbul’s Çağlayan Courthouse, Hacıosmanoğlu says the federation’s integrity report – due mid-December – may recommend lifetime bans, club fines and sweeping structural reforms.
UEFA has offered forensic support, and the Turkish government has allocated 10 million euros for new anti-corruption programs. All weekend fixtures in affected leagues have been paused for integrity checks.