Match-fixing scandal in Turkey spreads to new team

Turkey’s largest-ever match-fixing probe officially reached another member of the country’s elite “big four” on Tuesday, when the Beşiktaş coach and a team board member were detained. Coach Tayfur Havutçu and board member Serdal Adalı were detained for questioning as part of the match-fixing probe, which concerns 19 games that the police have announced were “rigged” last season.

Other top clubs, Spor Toto Super League champion Fenerbahçe and runner-up Trabzonspor, have also seen high-profile figures become involved in the ongoing case. Last week, Turkish media reported that Beşiktaş’s Ziraat Turkish Cup final victory over Istanbul BB was among the 19 “manipulated” matches.

Fenerbahçe has been at the center of the investigation, with Chairman Aziz Yıldırım, Vice Chairman Şekip Mosturoğlu and 24 other officials and players jailed pending trial on charges of match-fixing, Hurriyet Daily News reports.

On Monday, the “second wave” of the investigation took off, with police detaining another 22 people, including Trabzonspor Chairman Sadri Şener and former Turkish Football Federation Chairman Mahmut Özgener.