Turkish police detained 17 current and former football club executives on Friday over allegations that they placed bets on matches involving their own teams, including wagers favoring opponents, prosecutors announced.
The suspects include a senior official at Galatasaray and three men who served in the management of Beşiktaş, two of Turkey’s largest football clubs.
Police conducted raids in İstanbul and nine other provinces after prosecutors issued detention warrants for 19 people, while the remaining two suspects were found to be abroad.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said it obtained betting records covering 2020 to 2026 from seven licensed platforms and examined them along with financial analyses prepared by Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK).
The investigation found data indicating that club executives placed bets involving their own teams while serving in management positions, including bets on opposing teams, the total number of goals and the performance of individual players, according to prosecutors.
The allegations are being investigated under Turkey’s law against violence and disorder in sports and include suspected match fixing and illegal betting.
The list includes Maruf Güneş, vice chairman of Galatasaray Sportif AŞ, the company that oversees the club’s football operations.
Prosecutors allege that Güneş placed 48 bets involving Galatasaray games while serving as an executive. Some of the wagers backed Galatasaray’s opponents or concerned the total number of goals scored.
Three former Beşiktaş board members were accused of making the largest number of bets uncovered in the operation.
Tolga Kırgız allegedly placed 1,488 bets involving Beşiktaş games, Kerem Gürel placed 996 and Ahmet Akçelik placed 53, prosecutors said.
Kırgız served on the Beşiktaş board from 2024 to 2025, Gürel from 2023 to 2024 and Akçelik from 2023 to 2025.
The other suspects were affiliated with Adana Demirspor, Adanaspor, Altay, Altınordu, Balıkesirspor, Bandırmaspor, Bodrumspor, Boluspor, Erzurumspor, Gençlerbirliği and Karaman Football Club.
Prosecutors allege that former Erzurumspor executive Avni Akdemir placed 218 bets involving his club’s games, while former Bandırmaspor executive Ünsal Yamaner placed 144 and former Adanaspor executive Savaş Tatil placed 124.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said the operation was part of an investigation into illegal betting, match fixing, violence in sports and criminal proceeds.
Friday’s raids are the latest stage of a betting investigation that began in 2025 after the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) disclosed that 371 of the 571 referees working in professional leagues had betting accounts and that 152 had used them to place bets.
One referee was found to have placed 18,227 bets, while 42 referees had placed more than 1,000 bets each.
The federation later imposed bans of between eight and 12 months on 149 referees and assistant referees and referred 1,024 professional players to its disciplinary board over suspected betting activity.
The investigation subsequently expanded to players, club presidents, referees, football commentators and other officials.
Prosecutors issued detention warrants for 46 people in December, including players from Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe and officials from Ankaraspor, Antalyaspor and Adana Demirspor.
Football regulations prohibit players, referees and club officials from betting on football matches, regardless of whether the betting platform operates legally.