By David Gold
January 25 – The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) will tomorrow meet to discuss whether to amend Article 58 of their disciplinary code, a move which could mean that any teams found guilty of involvement in the match fixing scandal in the country would escape relegation.
Currently the article requires any team whose officials were complicit in match fixing to be relegated immediately.
The Turkish Clubs Union met with the TFF last week and put forward their argument that those found guilty of match fixing should not be demoted, but given points penalties and European bans instead.
They argue that clubs should not be penalised for the actions of individuals and that relegating teams found guilty would badly damage the game in the country.
Intriguingly, the highest profile club under suspicion, champions Fenerbahçe, oppose the amendment to Article 58.
They asked to be relegated earlier this season after they were expelled from the Champions League and replaced by Trabzonspor, another team who are implicated in the scandal.
Following last week’s meeting, the Fenerbahçe vice chairman Nihat Özdemir (pictured) said that they would not support moves to change Article 58, and maintained that the club believed they were innocent.
The club’s supporters are also fiercely opposed to changing the article, which will be debated tomorrow at an extraordinary general assembly.
Also opposed to the change are the supporters of Galatasaray, the highest profile team not implicated in the affair, whose fans plan to protest the proposed changes by waving white handkerchiefs in the 58th minute of their home game tonight against Ankaragücü.
If the change goes through, it would provoke more controversy as the country’s Parliament has already moved to reduce the maximum penalty for individuals found guilty in court of match fixing from 12 years to three.
Currently 93 individuals are being indicted by Turkish courts for their roles in the affair, including Fenerbahçe chairman Aziz Yıldırım and a number of Turkish players.
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