Nine more charged in Turkey match-fixing probe

A Turkish court Friday charged nine more people in connection with a match-fixing probe, bringing to 13 the total number of suspects jailed pending trial, Anatolia news agency reported.

Among the nine men were a coach and six footballers from Turkey’s second and third divisions as well as a manager and a retired player, Anatolia said.

The detailed charges against the suspects will become known when prosecutors draw up their indictment.

Another seven people were released after questioning, Anatolia said.

The authorities have imposed a media blackout on the probe, handled by prosecutors in Istanbul, Turkey’s biggest city and football centre.

The operation began 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 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 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 upon 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.