Turkey football referee chief due in court in graft probe

Turkey's football refereeing chief Ferhat Gundogdu and six others were due to appear before a judge in Istanbul on Friday, three days after being detained in a graft investigation, media reports said.

Gundogdu, his vice-president and five others were detained Tuesday as part of a probe into allegations of top-level manipulation of the referee administration process. They were due at Istanbul's Caglayan courthouse on charges including official document forgery, breach of trust and illegal acquisition of personal data.

Media reports said police also detained two referees from Turkey's top-flight Super Lig late Thursday.

The detentions came a year after the Turkish Football Federation suspended 149 referees in an illegal betting scandal. Two days ago, the federation said it had referred another 450 club officials to the disciplinary board as part of an illegal betting probe. It was not immediately clear whether this week's developments were connected.

Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said prosecutors were examining claims about interference in referee classification, assignments, scoring, appointments and rules exams.

The federation did not mention the arrests, but said Tuesday it was working to restore public faith in clean football and was supporting an ongoing investigation by the interior, justice, and youth and sport ministries.

Hurriyet newspaper said prosecutors believe the suspects improperly influenced referee classifications, promotional exams and match appointments through document fraud and systemic intimidation.