Second round in match fixing

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Fans show support for Fener officials in this file photo from last month’s hearings. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

The second round of hearings at the landmark match-fixing allegation case started yesterday.
The hearings will continue all week. A total of 93 football officials, players and coaches are listed as suspects in the match-fixing trial, with 16 of them jailed pending charges.

Sivasspor goalkeeper Korcan Çelikay, who is accused of taking bribes to underperform in Fenerbahçe’s championship game, rejected the charges. “I am here because I conceded an error-led goal,” Çelikay said. “Match-fixing is a disgusting word and I have never been part of it.”

Former Istanbul BB chairman Göksel Gümüşdağ and player agent Doğan Ercan also rejected that they were part of paid incentives.

Fenerbahçe chairman Aziz Yıldırım, who is the highest-profile name in the case, will make his defense on March 29 but yesterday gave a brief response to the judge.

“Some friends here are excited because they are here for the first time. They can tell some wrong things while knowing the right,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) proposed a change in the law on violence in sports, to move the case from a Specially Authorized Court to the regular court.