ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s justice minister on Tuesday said that prosecutors were working “to keep football clean” as they looked into a match-fixing scandal which has seen the country’s top referee official and others arrested.
Ferhat Gundogdu, head of the Central Referees Committee (MHK), and four others were on Saturday placed in jail pending trial on charges of manipulating the referee administration process.
And a referee and an assistant referee from Turkiye’s top-flight Super Lig were jailed in the same investigation on Monday.
“Turkish football needs to be clean … We want referees to manage matches without being beholden to anyone, adhering to the rules,” Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said in a televised interview with state news agency Anadolu.
“But unfortunately, our investigations show this is not the case.”
He said investigators were probing allegations that some referees were given preferential treatment, while others were “demoted or subjected to workplace bullying” or deliberately prevented from officiating.
They were also investigating claims that referee exam questions were distributed in advance.
On Monday, Turkish Football Federation (TFF) chief Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu denied any involvement in the scandal.
“Don’t try and pin 30 years of corruption in football on me,” he said in an interview with Hurriyet newspaper.
The scandal came exactly a year after the TFF suspended 149 referees on charges of illegal betting, although they only faced disciplinary sanctions.
In an investigation involving 571 referees from the professional leagues, the TFF found that 371 had sports betting accounts and 152 were actively placing bets.
“The TFF has provided us with data from players and managers, notably in betting issues,” Gurlek said.
“There absolutely should not be any bribery, match-fixing… or referees deliberately letting something happen,” he said.
“Our main goal is to keep football clean.”
Until now, UEFA has not commented on the scandal in the week since the top refereeing official was arrested.
According to Turkish media, the TFF was expected to make a decision on whether or not to hold an early election.
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