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Eighteen individuals are currently detained in Turkey as part of an investigation into referees suspected of betting on football matches, the Istanbul prosecutor’s office said on Friday.
Warrants for the arrest of 21 individuals have been issued, including 17 referees and the president of a first-division club, although the prosecutor’s office did not clarify how many of the 18 individuals being interrogated are referees.
The probe centres on allegations of match manipulation and misuse of authority.
Last week, the Disciplinary Council of the Turkish Football Federation suspended 149 referees for betting on matches in violation of the federation’s prohibitive policy.
The suspensions vary from eight to twelve months, but the federation has not specified whether any of those suspended were suspected of betting on the matches they officiated.
An earlier investigation by the federation of 571 Turkish referees from professional football leagues found that 152 of them, including 22 from the Turkish first division, were “actively betting” on matches.
In a collective statement released on Wednesday, the referees condemned the “shocking allegations,” asserting that none of them have ever bet on the matches they officiated. Some argue that their betting histories date back to their days as amateur referees.
