ISTANBUL: Turkey’s football federation has provisionally suspended 448 current and former club officials, including Trabzonspor president Ertugrul Dogan and ​Besiktas vice-president Hakan Daltaban, as part of a sweeping ‌investigation into betting.

The suspended officials, who served at clubs in the country’s two highest divisions during the 2026-27 season, were found to ​have placed bets whilst in office over the past ​five years, the Turkish federation said in a ⁠statement. All 448 have been referred to the federation’s disciplinary ​committee.

Media reports said the list published by the TFF on ​Wednesday included about 171 officials who had served at clubs in the top-flight Super Lig.

Dogan said he previously held a betting account and ​had disclosed it to the authorities.

“These companies sponsored clubs and ​held launch events. Nobody thought this would cause problems… if we made ‌a ⁠mistake, we apologise, but we have done nothing wrong,” Dogan told broadcaster A Spor.

The TFF has tightened ​its oversight ​of betting since a ⁠scandal rocked Turkish soccer last year. The federation suspended about 149 referees and 1,024 players for various ​periods of time as part of the ​investigation.

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