A Turkish court has jailed 20 suspects, including several players from the Super League – the country’s top football category – while awaiting trial as part of the investigation into the betting scandal, the official Anadolu news agency reported on Tuesday.
Last week, prosecutors ordered the arrest of 46 people – footballers, club presidents, commentators and a referee – for taking part in inside betting in Turkish professional leagues.
Anadolu reported that among those arrested and subsequently imprisoned during this operation were Metehan Baltaci and Mert Hakan Yandas, players of Galatasaray and Fenerbahce respectively, as well as the former president of Adana Demirspor, Murat Sancak.
Baltaci told the court that he had bet on some matches when he was a youth team player and did not do so after joining the Galatasaray first team.
According to the ‘Sabah’ newspaper, in his statement, Yandas denied having bet on the matches he is accused of.
For his part, Sancak assured that he did not have a gaming account and had never bet on any match, ‘Cumhuriyet’ newspaper reported.
Last month, the Turkish Football Federation suspended 149 referees and assistants after an investigation found professional league officials were betting on matches.
The network then expanded with the arrest of eight people, including the president of a first division club, and the suspension of 1,024 players from all leagues, on whom the federation (TFF) imposed bans.
A trial date has not yet been set.
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