Turkey suspends 149 referees after betting probe

TFF suspends 149 referees after betting probe. (Reuters Image)

The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) suspended 149 referees and assistant referees on Friday after an investigation found the officials working in the country's professional leagues were allegedly betting on football matches.

The federation's disciplinary board imposed bans ranging from eight to 12 months on 149 officials for involvement in betting activity, while investigations into three others are still ongoing.

The TFF published the full list of names on its website and said penalties were determined by considering the "severity of the act". No additional details of the ongoing investigations or the cases were provided.

TFF President Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu said the federation probe — based on data from state institutions — revealed that 371 of 571 active referees in Turkey's professional leagues had betting accounts, and 152 of them were actively gambling.

"There is a moral crisis in Turkish football. There is no such thing as structure. The fundamental problem at the core of Turkish football is an ethical one," Haciosmanoglu told CNN on Friday.

"Ask any referee, if there is even one who has not received his pay, I will resign as federation president. In fact, we improved their salaries last year, and again this year."

Haciosmanoglu said that some referees had placed a staggering number of bets, with one betting 18,227 times, and 42 referees having bet on more than 1,000 football matches each. Others were found to have placed bets only once.