The Turkish Football Federation has announced that a total of 152 referees have been sent to the Professional Football Disciplinary Committee for betting. The president of the Turkish Football Federation, Ibrahim Hajiosmanoglu, announced at a press conference held on October 27 that out of 571 referees working in professional leagues, 371 had betting accounts, and 152 actively bet. Seven of the active betting referees are senior referees, 15 are senior assistant referees, 36 are regular referees and 94 are regular assistant referees. BBC writes about this.
The names of the seven high-ranking referees sent to the Disciplinary Committee are: Egemen Artun, Mehmet Ali Ozer, Melih Kurt, Muhammed Selim Ozbek, Seyfettin Alper Yilmaz, Yunus Dursun and Zorbay Küçük. There are 54 high-class referees registered in the Turkish Football Federation, and among these seven, Zorbay Kuciuk is the only one who officiated a match in the Super League this season. A 33-year-old referee with a FIFA badge, Kyuchuk has worked once this season in the matches of the 1st qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League and the 3rd qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League.
In connection with this investigation, the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Istanbul is also handling the case. Following the announcement by the Turkish Football Federation, the Prosecutor's Office informed that the investigation is ongoing in cooperation with the Turkish Football Federation, the Istanbul Police Department and the Financial Crimes Investigation Board to uncover the activities considered to be crimes within the framework of Law No. 6222 on the Prevention of Violence and Irregularities in Sports. Article 11 of the mentioned law provides for one to three years of imprisonment and a fine of up to 20 thousand days for the organizers of fixed games.
The 152 referees sent to the Disciplinary Committee for betting may be punished under Article 57 of the Football Disciplinary Regulations. This article prohibits referees, football players, coaches and club employees from betting. Exposed persons may be punished by removal from competitions or deprivation of rights for a period of three months to one year. In addition, UEFA's disciplinary regulations also prohibit referees from betting, and according to Article 27 of FIFA's Code of Ethics, referees involved in such activities are subject to a fine of at least 100,000 Swiss francs and a maximum three-year ban from any football-related activity.
The president of the Turkish Football Federation, Hajiosmanoglu, announced at the press conference held in Istanbul that they have carried out work covering the last five years, and within the framework of the prepared report, he published remarkable information about referees' bets. it was announced that ten referees placed more than 10,000 bets, only one referee placed 18,227 bets and 42 referees individually placed bets on more than 1,000 football matches. It was also noted that some referees bet only once. Hajiosmanoglu said that the report was also shared with UEFA and FIFA, adding: "In order to bring Turkish football to the place it deserves, we have to clean up all the dirt."
