President of Turkey's arbitration body jailed

The president of the Turkish Football Referees Association and four other individuals were remanded in custody by a court as part of a complex corruption case shaking the entire Turkish football establishment, Anadolu Agency reported yesterday. Farhat Gündoğdu, head of the Central Referees Committee of the Turkish Football Federation, and six others appeared before a judge yesterday on allegations of tampering with the refereeing management system. The court ordered the detention of five of them, while granting conditional release to the other two, according to Anadolu. They face several charges, including “forging official documents,” “breach of trust,” and “unlawful acquisition of personal data.” The arrests come a year after the Turkish Football Federation suspended 149 referees in an illegal betting scandal. Justice Minister Akin Öztürk said on Tuesday that prosecutors are examining allegations of “interference in the ranking, appointment, evaluation, and promotion of referees, as well as in law-related examinations.” The Turkish newspaper Hürriyet reported that prosecutors believe the suspects unlawfully influenced referee rankings, promotion exams, and match assignments through document forgery and systematic intimidation.