This from the Hurriyet Daily News
Fenerbahçe Sports Club President Aziz Yıldırım was first to be detained in a probe into match-fixing allegations in the Turkish football league, Anatolia News Agency reported.
Police officers from the Organized Crime Department raided residences after carrying out surveillance regarding the match-fixing allegations.
Forty-nine people were detained in the operation, including Sivasspor Club President Mecnun Odyakmaz, Giresunspor Club President Ömer Ülkü and former president Olgun Peker, Diyarbakırspor former president Abdurrahman Yakut, Fenerbahçe Vice President Şekip Mosturoğlu, Mersin İdmanyurdu Club Vice President Beşir Acar, and Fenerbahçe's new transfers Sezer Öztürk and Emenike.
Also caught up was Genclerbirligi players Serdar Kulbilge (now at Ankaragucu), Mahmut Boz and Serkan Çalik. The first two have been taken in for questioning. The third is in Germany at the moment.
It's all early days yet and I can't find any news of exactly what they are alleged to have done but the papers are saying that the March 7 Genclerbirligi - Fenerbahce match is one of those "suspicious" matches. We lost that one 2 - 4.
You can see our report here
I really don't know what to say except that if the Gencler players are guilty then I hope they all get lengthy bans.
Ankaragucu involved?
Even though no Ankaragucu players have been named in the scandal, the papers are all saying that one of the other suspicious matches was the 6-0 drubbing that Ankaragucu received on May 15 this year.
This match had "dodgy" written all over it. Check out Sir Eski's report (and don't forget to read the comments).
What on earth happens now is anyone's guess but we could well see Fenerbahce stripped of their title and relegated to the Bank East of Europe League where they would start with minus 10 points. Other teams could follow them. All up, a mess.
Amid all this depressing news I did laugh in the schadenfreude style to a comment on the Daily News report by a fellow called Emre Deliveli. In it he was referring to the time the Fener fans erupted with joy after it was announced at the stadium that Besiktas had scored a goal against Bursa which would have meant Fener would be champions a year and a bit ago. A few minutes later it was realised that Besiktas hadn't scored and Bursa were the champions.
Emre Deliveli
2011-07-03 15:52:21
If they are stripped of the championship this year, they'll be the only club who has celebrated 19 times for 17 championships:):)
Edited on Monday 4 July to save Oz Kanka from embarrassment.
that still photo seems to be from a gencler - bursa match.
ReplyDeleteOn CNN Turk they reported there are 20 matches under investigation. Both Gencler and Ankaragucuare were in those matches.
Dan
I think you might be right Dan. I'm going to edit it out of the post and history will thus my mistake shall be erased from the history of the internets.
ReplyDeleteAllow me to be the first to say on this website that....
ReplyDeletethese things NEVER go anywhere.
At least this time it's the cops, not the TFF. but still, all together now: these things NEVER go anywhere.
All I'm prepared to say at this moment is that we must hope that Spine is wrong and that we don't have a 'whitewash' !!
ReplyDeletebtw, surprise surprise ...... I didn't see Mr Cunayt Cakir's name mentioned !!!
Eski Kanka Jim
nothing will come of this apart from maybe point deductions to eskisehir, gencler and sivas. Fenerbahce will find another way of bribing the police as well, to powerful a club. Cheating ba.stards the lot of them
ReplyDeleteSpine, don't forget about Italy 2006 (or were you only referring to Turkey?).
ReplyDeleteIf I had to bet money on this, I would vote that it isn't going to go anywhere, but never say never.
@Jim, I think Senecky and
...Özden were the more likely culprits, but who knows.
ReplyDeleteNever a dull moment in Turkish football.
ReplyDeleteBut I do expect to see Fener playing in the Champions League this coming season.
Dublin Neil
Lots of 'Doubting Thomas's' out there (including Dublin Neil). Tut tut tut ..... don't you have faith in the Turkish Justice System ???!!!
ReplyDeleteI say ....stop arsing around and put the cheats into the Bank Asya League yessssssss !!!
Eski Kanka Jim in aggressive mode !
Latest allegations in the papers today say that Ankaragucu received 600,000 dollars for the 6-0 loss.
ReplyDeleteAnkaragucu have since said that the claims were untrue.
ReplyDeletei have no doubts in my mind that ankaragucu were involved in some way, my thoughts are that its the players involved and not management. I think Sencky threw the game with his pish attempt at trying to win the ball giving away two penalties.
ReplyDeleteWe were on good form at that time and to loose 6-0, something doesnt add up
nadeem
This one's for you, Jim!!!
ReplyDeleteCüneyt Çakır now in the spotlight.
http://www.radikal.com.tr/Radikal.aspx?aType=RadikalDetayV3&ArticleID=1055194&Date=05.07.2011&CategoryID=84
Guess what - Cüneyt Çakır have since said that the claims were untrue.
ReplyDeleteI suggest we save this sentence: "have since said that the claims were untrue". I suspect we will have to copy&paste it many times in this thread.
Dan
off topic, gencler fans can you give me information on Jedinak, how good is he? he has been linked with a move to Rangers
ReplyDeletenadeem
I doubt that Jedinak woould get much time at Rangers. Completely off topic... I noticed that Eat'n'Joy on Philistin sokak has closed down. Guess who was a shareholder in the establishment... Mr A. Gokcek.
ReplyDeleteIt just goes to show that The Round Ball in Ankara is the most perceptive and 'hard hitting' football site in Turkey. I hope there is an in-depth investigation carried out on Mr Cunayt Cakir.
ReplyDeleteAs for Oz Kanka's remarks about Jedinak ..... Eski Kanka says to Rangers ...... do it.... do it ....sign him !!!!
All the best from ironic Eski Kanka Jim
Insipektor Knacker says he has evidence of attempts to influence 19 superlig and bank asya lig matches.
ReplyDeletealso conspiracy to rig the exam to qualify as a footballers agent. (or some exam anyway)
I can understand Nadeem's frustration at the delay in notifying the fixture list for the new season. I can feel him straining at the leash from here !!
ReplyDeleteHowever, this 'crisis' has thrown a spanner in the works and it may delay the release of the fixture list even further until such time as an outcome of the investigation is reached ..... if ever !!
It's all up in the air at the moment, which is difficult for us all, but for those of us who live in Turkey ...... we have all had to master the art of ..... patience !!!
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
yes Jim i check every day to see if the fixtures are out. Its only four weeks till the new season starts. However the TFF have said they will act swiftly and wont wait on an outcome from the Court as that can take years. So i expect a lot to be done in the next weeek.
ReplyDeleteIm also gutted eat n enjoy has been shut down, my favourite restaraunt
nadeem
emenike and sezer got a warm reception on their return to the FB camp. All the other players applauded them. Disgusting!!!
ReplyDeleteDan
Fenerbahce, Trabzonspor free to play in Europe
ReplyDelete"Teams will compete in European competitions according to the current final league standings," federation president Mehmet Aydinlar said. "The results are registered to UEFA this way."
Aydinlar also confirmed that the Turkish Super League will start on Aug. 5 as scheduled previously. Fenerbahce and Besiktas will play the Turkish Super Cup final on July 31.
If anything, this to me seems the right decision at this time, given the information available. Not guilty until proven otherwise. What else could the TFF have decided at this moment in time? Mind the decision is ultimately the UEFA's to make.
With this said the fixtures for 2011-2012 will be announced shortly hereafter I would think.
Fair comment from The Flying Dutchman (as always)! This problem couldn't have come at such an inopportune moment for the TFF.
ReplyDeleteThe fixture list must be issued very soon for lots of reasons, most of which are financial, eg, Digiturk will be straining at the leash to organise their programme schedule, the Betting Companies too and the credibility of the Turkish Football League is at stake.
The punishments (if any) given to guilty Clubs and players will have to be dealt with in due course after the dust has settled.
So, for Nadeem's benefit, bearing in mind that he is intending to book a flight around the fixture list, the sooner it is released the better.
No doubt The Flying Dutchman will be first out of the traps to post it on the Blog as he was last season. So, standby Nadeem ....... it will happen soon !!
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
Turkish Super Cup first victim of match-rigging scandal?
ReplyDeleteThe Turkey Super Cup -- the traditional curtain raiser to the new football season between the Super League champion and the Turkish Cup holder, which was due to take place in Erzurum on July 31 -- has been canceled, according to reports splashed across the Internet on Monday.
It is, however, worth noting that the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) neither denied nor confirmed this report at the time this article was written.
Federation mulls postponing start of league
As things now stand, the 2011-12 Spor Toto Super League season kicking off as scheduled on Aug. 5 seems more dream than reality. Read more...
19 July. Perhaps I spoke too soon in my previous comment ?!
ReplyDeleteIf the TFF really do have the confidence of UEFA as is reported in the TDN, then they could show it by making a decision sooner rather than later.
The league fixtures should begin when scheduled and any punishments which are decided after that date could be handed down as a fine and points deduction. That would focus a few minds within the guilty clubs involved !!!
So says Eski Kanka Jim