Turkey's Football Boss Denies Involvement in Referee Scandal

Turkey’s Football Federation chief denied any part in a scandal involving the country’s top referee official and others arrested for corruption.

Ferhat Gundogdu, who leads the Central Referees Committee (MHK), along with four others, was jailed on Saturday as they await trial for charges related to manipulating the referee administration process.

They faced a judge at Istanbul’s Caglayan courthouse on charges like “official document forgery,” “breach of trust,” and “illegal acquisition of personal data.”

This case seems linked to a large illegal betting network that surfaced a year ago.

“Don’t try and pin 30 years of corruption in football on me,” TFF President Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu told Hurriyet newspaper in an interview.

“Let no-one try to blame me and my colleagues on the board… for the corruption, decay and lack of ethics that have existed in Turkish football for 15, 20 or perhaps 30 years,” said Haciosmanoglu, who has been in the position for just over two years.

“For the future of Turkish football, we will be prepared, if necessary, not only to do our part but to assume the full weight of responsibility.”

Two other referees working in Turkey’s top Super Lig, detained on Thursday night, were also placed in pre-trial detention on Monday by an Istanbul court, according to reports.

Last week, Turkish media revealed a WhatsApp exchange and other messages between the TFF chief and Gundogdu. This suggested possible manipulation of referee rankings and promotions, as well as favoritism.

Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said prosecutors are looking into claims about “interference in the processes of referee classification, assignments, scoring and appointments, as well as the exams on rules.”

This scandal comes exactly a year after the TFF suspended 149 referees over illegal betting.

In an investigation involving 571 referees from professional leagues, the TFF found that 371 had sports betting accounts and 152 were actively placing bets.

Sports journalist Ayhan Sensoy, who wrote a 2024 book titled “The Gambling Pit,” told AFP on Friday that the arrests seem to continue last year’s betting scandal. He doubted the current federation bosses had “any chance of staying in office.”