371 of 571 referees in pro leagues found to have accounts
152 officials found to be actively placing bets
Turkey’s football federation (TFF) will launch disciplinary action against referees found to have bet on football matches after discovering that hundreds of them had betting accounts, its president said on Monday.
The TFF president, Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu, said a federation investigation — based on data from state institutions — revealed that 371 of 571 active referees in Turkey’s professional leagues had betting accounts, and 152 of them were actively gambling.
“As a federation, we started by cleaning up our own backyard,” Haciosmanoglu told a press conference in Istanbul. “Among those found to have betting accounts were seven top-level referees, 15 top-level assistants, 36 classified referees, and 94 classified assistants.”
