{"id":258948,"date":"2025-11-03T14:28:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T14:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/258948\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T14:28:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T14:28:09","slug":"turkish-soccer-rocked-after-149-referees-suspended-in-betting-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/258948\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkish Soccer Rocked After 149 Referees Suspended in Betting Scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Posted on: November 3, 2025, 08:15h.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n

\n Last updated on: November 3, 2025, 08:15h.\n <\/p>\n

\"Avatar <\/p>\n

Massive referee betting scandal shakes Turkish football integrity.
\nTFF suspends 149 referees after five-year investigation.
\nFans demand voided results amid deepening corruption concerns.<\/p>\n

Turkish soccer fans are calling for the results of certain games to be annulled after the news that soccer\u2019s governing body has suspended 149 referees for actively betting on matches.<\/p>\n

\"TurkishA Turkish S\u00fcper Lig referee during a recent game between Besiktas and Fenerbahce. Seven S\u00fcper Lig match officials are caught up in a massive betting scandal, according to the TFF. (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

A five-year Turkish Football Federation (TFF) investigation found that of 571 professional match officials, 371 held betting accounts and 152 were regular gamblers. Three remain under investigation.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s against TFF rules, as well as those of FIFA and UEFA, for anyone involved in the sport to gamble \u2013 especially referees, given the integrity risks it poses.<\/p>\n

Rogue Refs<\/p>\n

None of the officials have been accused of manipulating games, although some bet on matches they were refereeing, according to the TFF. \u00a0If match-fixing is proven, perpetrators would face prison sentences ranging from 1.5 to 4.5 years, plus lifetime bans from the sport.<\/p>\n

The rogue refs, including seven from the top echelon of Turkish soccer (S\u00fcper Lig), received bans ranging from eight to 12 months, based on the \u201cseverity of the act,\u201d according to the TFF. The organization found that 42 had bet on more than 1,000 soccer games, while one had placed 18,227 bets.<\/p>\n

The only legal sports-betting operator is the state-controlled entity, \u0130ddaa. The use of unlicensed foreign betting websites by Turkish residents is strictly illegal and subject to penalties. It\u2019s not clear whether the referees\u2019 accounts were held with \u0130ddaa or illegal offshore operators.<\/a><\/p>\n

However, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office launched a criminal investigation in April, which is ongoing and is believed to include not only referees but also clubs and players from all leagues.<\/p>\n

The TFF said it plans to tighten oversight by introducing a system to monitor referees\u2019 financial activities and to impose lifetime bans on anyone found betting on sporting events.<\/p>\n

Games Won\u2019t Be Annulled <\/p>\n

Speaking to German state broadcaster DW, Turkish sports lawyer Mert Ya\u015far said that it wasn\u2019t possible to go back and replay games on which bets were placed or to retroactively annul the results, as some fans are demanding on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew referees will be appointed for this season,\u201d Ya\u015far said. \u201cPrevious seasons cannot be affected. Since they are registered, the results will not change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sadettin Saran, president of S\u00fcper Lig club Fenerbah\u00e7e, described the situation as \u201cboth shocking and deeply saddening for Turkish football,\u201d adding that its emergence into the open was nonetheless \u201ca hopeful development.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Posted on: November 3, 2025, 08:15h.\u00a0 Last updated on: November 3, 2025, 08:15h. Massive referee betting scandal shakes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,120199,120200,561,82,120201,120202,120203],"class_list":{"0":"post-258948","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-match-integrity","11":"tag-referee-betting-scandal","12":"tag-soccer","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-su00fcper-lig","15":"tag-tff-investigation","16":"tag-turkish-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}