Turkey Refers 448 Club Officials to Discipline Over Betting

The Turkish Football Federation said in its September 30 referral notice that the review covered officials who had held club positions during the previous five years. All 448 were sent to the Professional Football Disciplinary Board, or PFDK, under Article 57.

Several senior names appear on the list. They include Trabzonspor President Ertuğrul Doğan, Beşiktaş Vice-President Hakan Daltaban and former Galatasaray executive Ural Aküzüm, who was also serving on the TFF board.

31 Names Come From Turkey’s Big Four

Reuters reported that roughly 171 of the people referred were connected with Süper Lig clubs. Doğan said the betting account linked to his case was an old account that he had previously disclosed. He denied intentionally breaching the rules.

A 15M count of the federation’s list finds 31 names connected with Turkey’s four biggest clubs. Trabzonspor accounts for 13, Beşiktaş 10, Galatasaray five and Fenerbahçe three. That works out at 6.9% of the full 448-person list.

The federation’s published list gives the club affiliation beside each name.

The Investigation Has Already Reached Referees and Players

Club executives are the third major group pulled into Turkey’s football betting investigation. The TFF previously suspended 149 referees. It then referred 1,024 players for disciplinary proceedings, a stage of the case covered by 15M.

The September 30 action shifts the same investigation into club offices. The 448 names include presidents, vice-presidents, board members and other current or former officials from the country’s top two divisions.

Karagümrük Challenges Part of the List

One club has already objected to how several names were presented. Fatih Karagümrük said seven people listed with a Karagümrük connection were not members of the board of Fatih Karagümrük Sportif A.Ş.

According to the club’s statement, reported by T24, they held positions in separate Karagümrük associations or supporters’ groups instead. The seven names remain in the federation’s published material.

For now, the September 30 document is a referral list, not a set of final disciplinary rulings. PFDK decisions on the 448 cases had not been published by early October 2.