Match fixing in Turkish League
29 games in the Turkish professional leagues are suspected to have been manipulated by a match-fixing ring, German prosecutors said on Friday at a conference in Bochum. Match fixing in Turkish League is the main sight of investigation for the Bochum investigators
The news has not come as a shock to most Turkish supporters as many people believed in or speculated about match fixing in the Turkish League.
UEFA spokesperson Peter Limacher said “We at UEFA are deeply shocked by the extent of the orchestrated manipulation carried out by international gangs,” he was quoted as saying by Deutsche Welle.
The names of the clubs and players involved in the manipulated matches will not be revealed until the investigation is concluded, the German prosecutors said.
According to press reports, 15 people were arrested in at least six European countries, with around 100 suspects in total. Matches in Turkey were the main focus of investigation.
The daily Berliner Morgenpost write, one unnamed top investigator as saying the probe could result in “one of the biggest scandals in the history of professional football.”
“This earthquake will shake the credibility of the sport for a long time,” the paper quoted the investigator as saying.
The German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that one of the games under investigation was a friendly between German side SSV Ulm and Fenerbahçe Istanbul in July.
the paper said, The Turkish side won 5-0, and investigators suspect that “certain currently unidentified SSV Ulm players” received more than 10,000 euros ($14,900) to throw the game.
