Fenerbahce, Besiktas Charged With Match Fixing
By Josh Sanchez
It is safe to say that today is not a good day for Turkish soccer. UEFA has charged two of the most notable squads in Turkey — Fenerbahce and Besiktas — for match fixing that stems from a case related to the 2011 Turkish Cup final. A disciplinary hearing will be held on June 22nd, with the punishments expected to be announced by UEFA shortly after. This is not the kind of scandal you want, especially if you are Besiktas, who is currently serving a European competition ban for violating financial fair play regulations.
This definitely is not a good look.
As you would expect, both clubs issued statements on the allegations.
Fenerbahce confirmed that UEFA was looking in to five of the club’s officials:
"Club president Aziz Yıldırım and board members Alaeddin Yıldırım, Mehmet Şekip Mosturoğlu, İlhan Yüksel Ekşioğlu and Cemil Turhan are under investigation by UEFA.UEFA is calling for the club officials being investigated to be given a lifetime ban from footballing activities if convicted.The club is being accused of influencing the results of games and if found guilty will face a two-year suspension from European competitions."
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that Fenerbahce is facing max fixing allegations. If they are found guilty this go around, they will be banned from the Champions League for the second time in three seasons.
Besiktas, who is also already in hot water of their own, confirmed the investigations as well:
"Former vice-president Serdal Adalı and former-manager Tayfur Havutçu are being investigation by UEFA for influencing the result of the Turkish Cup final match played on 11 May 2011 against İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediye Spor. If found guilty Beşiktaş will be suspended from the 2013-14 Europea League competition and Serdal Adalı as well as Tayfur Havutçu will face a lifetime ban from any footballing activities."
It is clear that there is a serious problem in Turkish soccer and officials of the teams are incredibly corrupt.
Fixing matches is the lowest of lows as an official or player, because it completely takes away any integrity from the game. It’s unfortunate that the Turkish league can’t just hand down the death penalty like the NCAA has the power to do.
[H/T: Pro Soccer Talk]