Jan
11
Turkish Match Fixing Scandal
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Eastern Europe’s football leagues have long been accused of match-fixing, and lately more and more reports are coming up to the surface. The latest one involves 19 league games in the Turkish Super League, which was conducted by the Bochum Public Prosecutor’s Office and Bochum police, who were actually investigating a prostitution ring at the time last year. What they compiled, however, was more than 50,000 pages of phone conversation transcripts, which prove how bad the situation really is.
An anonymous official elaborated:
“The games were so manipulated that large bets on low-stake games enabled people worldwide to earn money. It is estimated that the unlawful profits obtained through this gang’s’ match-fixing could be as high as 50 million euros.”
Many of the fixed games are said to be ones without much importance, but others—such as Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediyespor 3-1 win over Genclerbirligi ensured the home team were not relegated from the top division. According to the report, the presidents of the two clubs had agreed on the result beforehand, and Istanbul’s goalkeeper even illegally bet on the game and won 30,000 Euros.
Whatever the importance of the games, however, that is no excuse. This sort of cheating kills sporting integrity, and the more reports like this reveal the schemes, the better. Not only that, but it is also a dishonest way to win money, regardless of claims made that “it doesn’t hurt anyone”. It’s up to the Turkish Soccer Federation to deal with this issue promptly.