Crisis in Turkish Soccer Deepens with 102 Pro Players Banned

Turkey has temporarily banned 102 players from the country’s top-tier and secondary leagues as the country continues to investigate a large-scale corruption case involving thousands of players and over a hundred referees.

Turkey Continues to Go After Suspected Gambling Offenders in Soccer

The Turkish Football Federation has excluded 25 players from the country’s Super Lig, its top-flight competition, and 77 from its second-tier first division.

The bans were handed down for a period between one and 45 days, and this is unlikely to be the final enforcement action against players and officials suspected of wrongdoing.

Galatasaray and Turkey defender Eren Elmali has been banned from the sport for 45 days, and he is one of the highest-profile players to have fallen under the blows of the investigators, who have vowed zero tolerance for wrongdoers.  

Elmali’s transgression appears fairly small, as the player is said to have placed a wager on a soccer game that didn’t involve his own team about five years ago.

Elmali’s teammate, Metehan Baltaci, was suspended over the same violation.

In a statement on social media, Baltaci acknowledged the transgression and said that it was wrong of him to have bet on a game, even though it did not involve any outcome that he could have particularly influenced to his own benefit.

He also placed the bet several years before his present ban, but the federation has appeared adamant on meting out penalties to anyone who has been found to have breached the sport’s rules, which prohibit soccer players from gambling.

New Federation Has Mandate to Clean Sports of Betting Corruption

Federation president Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu has appeared inexorable in his determination to root out corruption. In a translated statement, he said:

“We took office 16 months ago with a promise to elevate Turkish football to the level it deserves. We will not compromise in our fight to protect Turkish football from scandal, decay, and corrupt relationships.”

The high-profile bans come at a time when more than 150 referees have been said to be placing bets nearly constantly, holding multiple accounts, and in rare instances – placing thousands of wagers in the space of several years.