Murat Ozkaya is the president of YUSport, which plays in Türkiye’s topflight Super Lig. Eleven other suspects, who were also detained on Friday, have been released on bail.
The suspects are accused of abuse of office and match fixing, among other things.
The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) says it has summoned 1,024 players to its disciplinary committee on charges of betting on matches.
For the past two weeks, all matches in Türkiye’s third and fourth divisions, which feature more than 900 called-up players, have been cancelled.
Twenty-seven players ply their trade for clubs in the Super Lig, including Istanbul giants Galatasaray and Besiktas.
Defender out of Türkiye team
Those named also include Galatasaray left back Eren Elmali, who has been left out of the national squad for upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Bulgaria and Spain because of the case.
On Monday, Elmaly used an Instagram post to explain that the charges against him stemmed from the same bet made years earlier and did not involve his own team.
“Throughout my entire career I have never violated the ethical principles of football, the spirit of sportsmanship or the values of my club,” he wrote.
149 officers suspended
The match-fixing scandal came to light in late October, when the TFF revealed allegations that 152 match officials had placed bets on football matches.
The TFF has suspended 149 head referees and assistant referees for eight to 12 months.
In a joint statement, the suspected referee denied the allegations and described them as “outrageous”. He also said that none of them had placed bets on the matches in which they were umpiring.
Edited by: Matt Pearson
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