A betting earthquake rocks Turkey: 448 officials suspended, including the Trabzon president

The Turkish Football Federation dropped a bombshell. In the biggest clean-up Turkish football has seen in years, they announced the provisional suspension of 448 current and former club officials over their involvement in betting cases, an unprecedented move that lays bare their determination to root out corruption.

An official statement confirmed the Federation had referred all suspended officials to the disciplinary committee. Investigators established their involvement in betting activities while they held official positions at first and second division clubs during the 2026-2027 season and over the past five years.

Heavyweight names dominate the list, headed by Trabzonspor president Ertuğrul Doğan and Beşiktaş vice-president Hakan Daltaban. The scale and breadth of the investigation is staggering.

According to local media reports cited by the " Reuters " agency, around 171 of those named had previously worked at clubs in the Turkish top-flight "Super Lig".

Doğan has since broken his silence. The Trabzonspor president confirmed he had previously held a betting account and disclosed it to the authorities.

"These companies used to sponsor clubs and organise launch events, no one expected that this would cause problems," he told A Spor television. "If we made a mistake then we apologise, but we did not commit any wrongdoing."

The decision tightens the Federation's grip on the betting file. It follows the major scandal that shook Turkish football last year, which saw around 149 referees and 1,024 players suspended for varying periods before it developed into the imprisonment of a number of elite players and senior officials in a campaign against illegal betting and match-fixing in the professional leagues.

Investigators have now opened another track. Turkish authorities on Tuesday detained the president and six members of the main football referees' board on charges of interfering in refereeing procedures, a sign that the threads of the scandal may reach every institution in the game.