Source:REUTERS/Murad Sezer
[Saba Sports News] Recently, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) released a detailed investigative report, confirming that a staggering 152 out of 571 active referees had participated in sports betting. At a press conference held at the Riva Hasan Dogan National Team Camp, TFF Acting Vice President, several board members, the General Secretary, Chief Advisor, Central Referee Committee President, Representative Committee President, Assistant Secretary General for Sports Affairs, along with the Chief Legal Advisor and Assistant Secretary General for Administrative Affairs, were all in attendance. In his address, TFF President Ibrahim Etem Haji Ottoman Oulu stated: “On the occasion of Republic Day, I first extend my holiday greetings to the Turkish people watching on television. I have often quoted the great leader Ataturk’s saying: ‘I like athletes who are intelligent, swift, and have moral character.’ But I never implied that those who don’t meet these criteria are immoral. For months, the state institutions we’ve collaborated with, our colleagues who have managed clubs for years, and sports veterans have all sequentially pointed out the root causes corrupting Turkish football. Let me start with a proverb: There’s a famous proverb in our country, ‘When swords and guns are drawn, chivalry and righteousness vanish.’ We begin our cleanup first from within the Federation itself.”