Trending 
The Istanbul public prosecutor’s office announced on Friday that it had ordered the arrest of 46 individuals, including 29 football players, in connection with a large-scale investigation into illicit betting on Turkish matches.
Among those arrested, 27 are alleged to have wagered on games that involved their own teams, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office.
One of the players arrested is Metehan Baltaci, a member of the reigning Turkish champions Galatasaray, who was suspended for nine months earlier this month due to the betting controversy.
This investigation has sent shockwaves through Turkish football, with six referees placed in pre-trial detention earlier this month, alongside the president of Eyupspor, a club in Turkey’s top-tier Super Lig.
The prosecutors did not disclose the identities of the other 26 players suspected of betting on their own matches; however, they did mention that Mert Hakan Yandas, a player for Fenerbahce, another prominent Istanbul club, had made bets using someone else’s account.
So far, law enforcement has apprehended 35 of the 46 individuals listed in the arrest order.
Two club presidents were included among those targeted for “attempting to influence the outcome” of a match between their respective third-division teams during the 2023-2024 season, as stated in the announcement.
To date, the Turkish football federation (TFF) has suspended over 1,000 Turkish players and around 150 referees linked to the scandal.
Of those suspended, 25 were in the Super Lig, with suspension periods varying from 45 days to a full year, according to the TFF.
Only one of the suspended individuals was a foreign national—Alassane Ndao, a Senegalese winger for Konyaspor, who received a 12-month suspension.
