Betting Investigation Leads to Suspension of 448 Football Officials in Turkey

^{Trabzonspor President Ertuğrul Doğan and Beşiktaş Vice President Hakan Daltaban}

The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) has provisionally suspended 448 current and former club officials following an investigation into their betting activity. Those named include Trabzonspor President Ertuğrul Doğan and Beşiktaş Vice President Hakan Daltaban.

The investigation covered individuals who had held administrative positions at Süper Lig and First League clubs over the past five years. The TFF found that they had placed bets while working for their clubs. Their cases have now been referred to the Professional Football Disciplinary Board.

Officials linked to Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray also appear on the federation’s list. Around 171 of the 448 individuals had worked for Süper Lig clubs.

The investigation involved representatives of most of Turkey’s biggest football clubs.

Doğan told broadcaster A Spor that he had previously held a betting account and had disclosed it to the authorities.

He said betting companies were sponsoring football clubs and holding joint promotional events at the time, meaning that having such accounts was not viewed as problematic.

The sweeping investigations into Turkish football began in 2025. The TFF suspended 149 referees and later referred 1,024 players to its disciplinary board after they were also investigated over betting activity.

Criminal investigations have been running in parallel. Süper Lig players and club executives have been taken into custody in cases involving illegal betting and suspected match-fixing. In June 2026, Fenerbahçe chairman Sadettin Saran was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in a case involving the promotion of illegal betting.

A separate investigation into Turkish refereeing is also continuing. On September 29, Turkish law enforcement authorities detained the head and six other members of the country’s main refereeing board on suspicion of interfering with procedures related to referee appointments and operations.