Turkey reduces prison sentences for individuals found guilty of match fixing

By David Gold

November 29 – Turkey has decided to reduce the maximum prison term individuals convicted of involvement in match fixing can serve from 12 years to three, as a match fixing scandal continues to be investigated by the country’s Football Federation.

The scandal in Turkey involves champions Fenerbahçe, the club supported by Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdoğan, who have already been kicked out of the Champions League for their role in the affair.

Fenerbahçe are accused of seeking to influence the selection of referees as they staged a remarkable comeback to lift last season’s title on the last day of the season with a 4-3 win over Sivasspor, one of 19 top flight games under suspicion.

The club’s chairman, Aziz Yildirim, has been jailed as part of the probe, and a number of other teams and players are also under investigation including Trabzonspor and Besiktas.

Even the deputy chairman of the TFF and Istanbul BB vice-president Göksel Gümüsdag has been investigated by those looking into the scandal.

Parliamentarians in Erdogan’s AK Party unanimously voted to reduce the maximum sentence, though it still needs approval from President Abdullah Gül, even though the 12 year penalty for bribing players or paying fees to teams as incentives was only introduced earlier this year.

AK Party deputy Şamil Tayyar has since written to Gül pleading with him not to pass the legislation, saying that the new law, which could also mean those convicted could serve as little as one year in prison, may amount to an effective amnesty for those found guilty.

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