Match-fixing probe shakes Turkish league

An operation that was launched Sunday morning into match-fixing allegations in Turkey´s first division football league expanded in the afternoon, with three club presidents taken under custody and locations raided in 12 provinces.

Fenerbahçe Sports Club President Aziz Yıldırım was first to be detained in a probe into match-fixing allegations in the Turkish football league, Anatolia News Agency reported.

Police officers from the Organized Crime Department raided residences after carrying out surveillance regarding the match-fixing allegations.

Forty-nine people were detained in the operation, including Sivasspor Club President Mecnun Odyakmaz, Giresunspor Club President Ömer Ülkü and former president Olgun Peker, Diyarbakırspor former president Abdurrahman Yakut, Fenerbahçe Vice President Şekip Mosturoğlu, Mersin İdmanyurdu Club Vice President Beşir Acar, and Fenerbahçe´s new transfers Sezer Öztürk and Emenike.

Among the detained was legendary former Fenerbahçe player Cemil Turan. Born in 1947, Turan was considered to be one of the best footballers ever to play in Turkey.

Source: here

This is the kind of what caused Juventus being sent to Serie B in Italy.

Turkish League is ripe for this sort of thing. The big 4 clubs have all the money, and all of the rest of the clubs are very very poor. It is easy for any of the big 4 to buy a result. Offering more than a full year´s ticket sales for other clubs is not a large amount of money for them.

Turkey’s billion-dollar football economy is edging toward hard times as clubs in the country’s top league are facing a torrent of match-fixing allegations, professionals speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News said. Turkey’s bad record in the black economy is also being displayed on the green pitch, one expert said.

A lack of oversight paves the way for money laundering attempts in the industry that flush the reputation of the leading clubs down the drain, said Tuğrul Aksar, author of a prominent football economy book.

 “Match-fixing allegations in Turkey today are not that different from the Italian football scandal in 2006,” said Aksar, author of “Football Economy” about the Turkish sector published that year.

The scandal in Italy was uncovered by Italian police through phone calls. “All these illegal acts harm the football economy,” said Aksar during a phone interview on Monday.

“Turkish clubs keep losing blood because of such attempts,” said Aksar, talking about the operation launched Sunday morning into match-fixing allegations in Turkish football’s first division. “Everyone, mainly sponsors and advertisers, will step back from teams involved in such scandals.”

The total revenue of the four big clubs – Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray of Istanbul and Trabzonspor of the Black Sea province Tranzonspor – reached 600 million Turkish Liras by the end of last year, according to official figures. Nearly 32 percent of the league’s total comes from broadcasting rights and the figure jumps to 60 percent when the big clubs are considered. Only about 2.5 percent of football club revenue is derived from ticket sales and fan stores.

“It is often stated that Turkey’s football economy has already reached $1 billion,” İbrahim Altınsay, former spokesman of Istanbul’s Beşiktaş, the oldest club in the country, told the Daily News during a phone interview on Monday. He added, however: “No one knows where the money comes from and goes to. The millions of dollars flow with no transparency at all.”

Source: here

This has created some funny stuff:

• Oynadığınız en iyi oyun "Masa Başı" oyunlarıydı, onu da elinize yüzünüze bulaştırdınız.

• Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü’nde yapılan aramalarda polis herhangi bir Türkiye Kupası izine rastlamadı

• İstanbul Emniyeti, Aziz Yıldırım ile görüşmelere başlandığını borsaya bildirdi.

• Bir İstanbul Trajedisi: Fenerbah Ç

• Gozalti kadrosuna alinmayan Guiza goz yaslarina engel olamadi.
• Geçen sene Kazım Kazım´la yollarını ayıran Fenerbahçe, bu yıl Yusuf Yusuf´la prensipte anlaştı

Court arrests 15 in match-fixing probe

Fifteen suspects, including Fenerbahçe Club Vice President Şekip Mosturoğlu were arrested in connection with the investigation into match-fixing in the top two tiers of Turkish football, daily Hürriyet reported on its website Thursday.

Twenty people were sent to court Wednesday with arrest requests by the prosecutor, the court then released five suspects including Fenerbahçe player’s Emanuel Emenike and Sezer Öztürk.

Among the arrested were a Fenerbahçe Club director İlhan Ekşioğlu; Sivasspor Club President Mecnun Odyakmaz; Eskişehirspor Coach Bülent Uygun and former player Cemil Turan.

Source: here

UEFA inspector Pierre Cornu (2R) visited Istanbul to meet Turkish Football Federation chairman and Mehmet Berk, the prosecutor in charge of the match-fixing case. AA photo

The visit of a UEFA inspector to Istanbul may seal Turkish teams’ fate in European competitions, national newspapers claimed Tuesday.

UEFA’s chief legal counsel for integrity and regulatory affairs, Pierre Cornu, arrived in Istanbul on Monday to meet Turkish officials and gather information about the ongoing match-fixing investigation that has rocked the national football agenda.

The daily Milliyet claimed that Cornu would prepare a report to present to UEFA President Michel Platini, and that might lead to the Turkish clubs being excluded from European competitions.

Three of Turkey’s European qualifiers are involved in the match-fixing case. Fenerbahçe will play in the Champions League, while Trabzonspor and Beşiktaş are in the playoffs for the Europa League.

The daily Hürriyet said the report might be prepared before the draws are made for the Champions League and Europa League on Thursday and Friday respectively.

Sweating under allegations of match fixing, Turkish titleholder Fenerbahçe will not be able to play against the European elite in the Champions League group stages.

Turkish champion Fenerbahçe will not be playing in the top European competition, Turkish football federation announced Wednesday.

In a statement released from the website of the national football’s governing body, it was said that Fenerbahçe will not represent the country in the Champions League.

The federation said it was a request from UEFA, the continental football’s governing body.

“In a report sent to the Turkish Football Federation on Aug. 23, 2011, the UEFA has said Fenerbahçe should be withdrawn from the Champions League and it should be excluded if the club does not make this decision,” the statement read. “If one of those ways are not chosen, UEFA would start its own disciplinary investigation and would start sanctions against the Turkish Football Federation, which means our country.”

The decision meant the Turkish champion will not take its place among the European elite as the UEFA Champions League group stage draws are made in Geneva, Switzerland on Thursday.

Here are the results of the last 27 matches between Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray (in 11 years) and the painful fact below explains without any doubt why all the GS supporters are full of hatred against FB.  This also explains why they all have inferiority complex...

They won only 4 matches against FB in the last eleven years! Poor ´em!    

Or maybe they sold most of the matches and FB won! 

2001   -- FB:2 – GS:1
2001   -- GS:0 – FB: 2
2002   -- FB:1 – GS: 0
2002   -- FB:6 – GS: 0
2003   -- GS:0 – FB: 2
2003   -- GS:2 – FB: 2
2004   -- FB: 2 – GS: 1
2004   -- GS: 0 – FB: 1
2005   -- GS:5 –  FB:1
2005   -- FB: 1 – GS: 0
2005   -- GS: 1 – FB: 0
2006   -- FB: 2 – GS: 1
2006   -- GS:2 –FB: 3
2006   -- FB: 4 – GS: 0
2006   -- FB: 2 – GS: 1
2007   -- GS:2 – FB: 1
2007   -- FB: 2 – GS: 0
2008   -- FB: 0 – GS: 0
2008   -- GS: 1 – FB:2
2008   -- GS: 0 – FB: 1
2008   -- FB: 4 – GS: 1
2009  --  GS: 0  - FB:0
2009  --  FB:3 –  GS:1
2010  --  GS: 1 -  FB:0
2010  -- FB: 0 – GS:0

2011 -– FB:0 – GS:0

2011 –- GS:1 – FB:2

Intereseting post! You´re in defense mode apperantly.

And Trabzonspor in! You deserve it boys! Wish you success!