26.12.2025 10:25
In the investigation into football betting, a detention order was issued for 29 individuals, including 14 players, while 24 people were taken into custody. In a simultaneous operation conducted in 11 provinces centered in Istanbul, former Galatasaray executive Erden Timur, Eyüpspor AS President Fatih Kulaksız, and a TFF (Turkish Football Federation) executive were also detained.
There are hot developments as of this morning in the illegal betting investigation that has created a seismic effect in Turkish football. As part of the investigation into allegations of illegal betting in football, a detention order has been issued for a total of 29 suspects, including 14 players, while 24 suspects, including Erden Timur, a former executive of Galatasaray Sports Club, Eyüpspor Vice President Fatih Kulaksız, and TFF Foreign Relations and National Teams Administrative Director Buğra Cem İmamoğulları, were detained in the operation conducted.
DETAILS THAT CAUGHT ATTENTION IN THE INVESTIGATION
The statement from the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office noted that the investigation is progressing under four main headings:
- Suspicious financial transactions (7 suspects)
- Those evaluated to have bet on the Kasımpaşa–Samsunspor match on October 26, 2024 (6 suspects)
- A betting account belonging to 1 suspect working at TFF and suspicious financial transactions
- 1 suspect being investigated due to suspicious financial transactions, including Erden Timur
- Football player suspects (14 suspects) who placed bets in a way that would affect the match result, betting that "the opposing team will win against their own team."
The statement from the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the matter is as follows:
"As part of the investigation conducted by our Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, known to the public as the 'Betting Investigation in Football';
As a result of the evidence identified from data obtained from MASAK and legal betting sites, open-source research, PFDK decisions, HTS analysis studies, and the examination of digital items seized from other suspects in the previous two operations,
7 suspects, evaluated to have suspicious financial transactions connected to a detained suspect who was processed in the previous two simultaneous arrests, detentions, searches, and seizures,
6 suspects who were found to have bet on the Kasımpaşa-Samsunspor football match on 26/10/2024 in a way that would affect the match result,
1 suspect working at TFF, identified as having suspicious financial transactions and a related betting account as a result of the examination of bank accounts,
1 suspect (Erden Timur), who previously served as an administrator at Galatasaray Sports Club, identified as having suspicious financial transactions that are considered to violate Article 11 of Law No. 6222, Law No. 5549, and Law No. 7258, and are interconnected,
A total of 29 suspects, including 14 football player suspects who placed bets in a way that would affect the match result (betting that the opposing team will win against their own team), have been simultaneously arrested, detained, searched, and seized in a total of 11 different provinces centered in Istanbul today. This is presented to the public's information."
NAMES OF THE 29 SUSPECTS WITH DETENTION ORDERS HAVE BEEN REVEALED
- 1. Bahattin Berke Demircan
- 2. Doğukan Çınar
- 3. Ergün Nazlı
- 4. Eyüp Can Temiz
- 5. Furkan Demir
- 6. Gökhan Payal
- 7. Hamit Bayraktar
- 8. Hüseyin Aybars Tüfekçi
- 9. İbrahim Yılmaz
- 10. İlke Tankul
- 11. İsmail Karakaş
- 12. Mert Aktaş
- 13. Mustafa Çeçenoğlu
- 14. Tufan Kelleci
- 15. Erden Timur
- 16. Figen Özkaya
- 17. Emrah Günaydı
- 18. Burak Söyleyen
- 19. Fatih Kulaksız
- 20. Ecem Alkaş
- 21. Ecrin Korkmaz
- 22. Esat Bilayak
- 23. Mirza Şerifoğlu
- 24. Enes Bartan
- 25. Hakan Çakır
- 26. Serhat Ölmez
- 27. Umut Esel
- 28. Buğra Cem İmamoğulları
- 29. Burcu Kurt
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE BETTING INVESTIGATION?
After the Turkish Football Federation announced the names involved in illegal betting, the betting investigation began. In the first wave, individuals including Eyüpspor President Murat Özkaya and many referees were arrested.
In the second wave, among those referred for arrest, 20 suspects, including former Adana Demirspor president Murat Sancak, Galatasaray player Metehan Baltacı, Fenerbahçe player Mert Hakan Yandaş, Alassane Ndao, and Ahmet Okatan, were arrested.