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Scandal around two fixed matches in Turkey
SA scandal surrounding two fixed matches in Turkish football is growing. In the near future a new wave of arrests is possible, this time of former football officials, RIA Novosti reports.
Last Sunday the biggest corruption scandal in Turkish football broke out. The police arrested 40 managers and administrators of the leading football clubs, as well as sportsmen. The investigation is looking into the organization of fixed matches in the Premier League in 2010-2011.
Fenerbahçe chairman Aziz Yıldırım allegedly called the Turkish Football Federation, or TFF, before his team’s derby match between Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe and said “Appoint [referee] Cüneyt Çakır to the derby match, send me Cüneyt.†The Feb. 20 derby, which was officiated by Çakır and ended in a 4-2 win for Fenerbahçe, was seen as one of the more important milestones in the Yellow Canaries’ march to the eventual championship.
It has also been claimed that one Fenerbahçe official gave incentive to all players on Konyaspor via then-coach Yılmaz Vural. The police records suggest that Vural went to Fenerbahçe’s facilities after the match that ended 2-0 on March 20.
Daily Hürriyet reported that Yıldırım gave incentives to Bucaspor players via club official and former Fener player Cemil Turan, urging them not to play with to their full potential with four weeks left in the season so that Buca’s relegation rival, Sivasspor, would be in a comfortable position before the final game of the season against Fenerbahçe.
During its late-season fixture against Buca, Fenerbahçe had to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win 5-3.
It has been also claimed that Turan gave a $300,000 incentive to Ankaragücü players and took $100,000 himself before a round 33 match in which Fenerbahçe comfortably beat Ankaragücü 6-0.
Board member İlhan Ekşioğlu was also allegedly involved in match-fixing activities, allegedly asking Sivasspor goalkeeper Korcan Çelikay to concede a goal in the season-ending match against Fenerbahçe. Korcan conceded a suspicious goal in the game, which ended in a 4-3 for victory for Fener that handed the Istanbul side the title.
