Nine more arrests in Turkey match-fix probe

Turkey’s match-fixing crisis deepened on Saturday when nine more people were arrested, bringing the total number of suspects detained to 24, the Anatolia press agency reported.

Five people were quizzed earlier in the day before another four, including one coach and three players, were arrested in the evening.

The operation began on Wednesday as police rounded up 46 suspects across Turkey, including players from the country’s top league and lower divisions, managers and club administrators.

The most high-profile figure charged so far is former international Fatih Akyel, who played for Istanbul giants Galatasaray in his heyday and is now a defender at third-division Tepecikspor.

His manager was among those charged on Friday.

Another former member of Galatasaray and the national team, Arif Erdem, currently a coach at first-divison Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediyespor, was questioned and freed on Thursday.

The Turkish Football Federation said the investigation was not related to a Europe-wide match-fixing scandal involving Turkey that broke out last year.

“The probe was launched after a complaint lodged by the Turkish Football Federation on August 4, 2009… (based on) information and documents obtained from inquiries into three separate match-fixing cases,” it said.

Match-fixing allegations as part of the investigation launched in Bochum, Germany are being investigated separately, it said.

In November, German prosecutors announced that a 200-strong gang had been rigging games in Germany, Belgium, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Austria and Switzerland.

By bribing players, coaches, referees and officials to influence games, the gang is thought to have earned as much as 10 million euros in huge bets with bookmakers in Europe and Asia, primarily in China.

Among 200 suspect matches are 29 games in Turkey from the first division downwards.