The Turkish football match-fixing probe on Tuesday widened to league giants Besiktas, with the arrest of two club officials, Anatolia news agency reported. Besiktas vice-president Serdar Adali and technical director Tayfur Havutcu were summoned to appear at Istanbul police headquarters for questioning before being taken into custody. Besiktas, who finished fifth in the Turkish league last season, are one of Istanbul's three big clubs along with Fenerbahce and Galatasaray.
Since July 3, Turkish police have arrested more than 80 footballers and club officials as part of a far-reaching match-fixing probe into 19 first division matches, with 26 suspects placed in provisional detention. Among the biggest names taken in are Aziz Yildirim and Sadri Sener, respective presidents of current champions Fenerbahce and Champions League hopefuls Trabzonspor.
The latest wave of arrests also included Mehmet Levent Kizil, the former executive committe member of the national football federation, and Ankaragucu goalkeeper Serdar Kulbilge. National football federation head Mehmet Ali Aydinlar insisted on Monday, however, that the league would start on August 5 as planned, adding that the federation would not take any disciplinary action against the clubs concerned until the prosecutors' indictment was ready.