Turkey investigating over 150 referees for betting on soccer matches

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Turkish Football Federation is investigating more than 150 referees in professional leagues for allegedly betting on matches.

Government agencies have determined that 371 of 571 active referees have at least one account with a betting company, federation president İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu said at a news conference on Monday.

Hacıosmanoğlu said 152 refs with accounts placed bets on soccer, including seven top-level refs and 15 top-level assistants.

Hacıosmanoğlu added 10 referees betted on more than 10,000 matches each, one alone on 18,227 games, in five years but some did it only once.

“We know Turkish football needs a change,” Hacıosmanoğlu said. “Our duty is to elevate Turkish football to its rightful place and to purge it of all its filth.”

He said the federation disciplinary board will deal with the cases immediately.

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