Turkey’s Professional Football Disciplinary Board (PFDK) has issued punishments to 102 players over their involvement in a sweeping illegal betting scheme, handing out suspensions ranging from 45 days to 12 months, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday, citing the board.
Among the players were those currently competing in the First League and Süper Lig, the country’s top football division.
The harshest penalty of a 12-month suspension was imposed on Allasane Ndao of Konyaspor, Abdulsamet Burak of Kayserispor, Oktay Aydın of Amedspor, Orkun Özdemir of Boluspor and Ali Şaşal Vural of Sivasspor. Ndao, who previously appeared in official records as Konya’s 27th highest income tax payer, was among the most prominent names in the group.
A further five players received nine-month suspensions, including Yusuf Özdemir, Eren Karadağ, Muhammed Furkan Özhan, Kadir Kaan Yurdakul and Metehan Baltacı, an İstanbul Galatasaray defender.
Among the shortest penalties, 56 players were handed 45-day suspensions, one of them being Galatasaray’s Eren Elmalı, who had been removed from the Turkish national team roster earlier this month after his name surfaced in the investigation.
The PFDK also issued 10 six-month suspensions and 25 three-month suspensions, according to Anadolu.
The disciplinary rulings follow the Turkish Football Federation’s (TFF) announcement earlier this week that 1,024 professional players had been identified as placing bets on matches, a violation of Article 57 of the federation’s disciplinary code.
All players were provisionally suspended and referred to the PFDK. The federation also said 47 individuals who allegedly placed only a single bet will be evaluated separately pending further evidence.
Because of the scale of the scandal, the TFF has asked FIFA for authorization to open a special 15-day transfer window, allowing clubs to replace suspended players. The federation also postponed all second and third-division fixtures for two weeks but confirmed that Super League and First League games will continue as scheduled.
The TFF previously disclosed that hundreds of referees had betting accounts, which later led to the arrest of several referees and a club executive.
