A Turkish court has sent 20 suspects, including Super League footballers, involved in a widening football betting investigation, state-owned Anadolu news agency said on Tuesday.
Last week, prosecutors ordered the detention of 46 people, including players, club presidents, commentators, and a referee, over insider betting in Turkey’s professional leagues.
Anadolu reported that among those detained in the operation, Galatasaray player Metehan Baltaci and Fenerbahçe player Mert Hakan Yandas, as well as former Adana Demirspor president Murat Sancak, were now formally arrested and jailed.
Anadolu reported that Baltaci pleaded with the court that he had placed bets on a few matches when he was a youth team player and had not done so after joining the Galatasaray first team.
According to another local newspaper, Fenerbahce’s Yandas had reportedly said in his submission to the court testimony that he denied involvement in gambling on matches.
Representatives of the two players and the former club official could not immediately be reached for comment.
Last month, Turkey’s football federation suspended 149 referees and assistants after an investigation found that officials in the professional leagues were betting on games.
The net then widened with the arrest of eight people, including the chairman of a top-tier club, and the suspension of 1,024 players from all leagues, on whom the federation (TFF) imposed bans.
