Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş hit out at UEFA probe

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Former Beşiktaş board member Serdal Adalı (2L) is facing a match-fixing ban. Adalı is currently running as a candidate in the Beşiktaş presidential race. AA photo

Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş responded to the UEFA hearing on match-fixing with different statements on June 10.

Beşiktaş’s case will be heard by European football’s governing body’s Control and Disciplinary Body on June 21, while Fenerbahçe’s case will be heard on June 22 at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, regarding the two teams’ alleged match-fixing during the 2010-2011 Turkish football campaign.

Fenerbahçe, the Turkish league champion that year, released a statement saying that the UEFA ignored the Turkish Football Federation’s (TFF) relevant decision.

The TFF has opened a match-fixing probe after an Istanbul court started the investigation in 2011, but ruled that “even though there were efforts to manipulate matches, those efforts were not reflected on the pitch.”

Serdal Adalı, one of two former Beşiktaş officials that could sanctions, said “he was shocked” but said he believed that the club would overcome the situation. Adalı and former Beşiktaş coach Tayfur Havutçu are charged with trying to manipulate the 2011 Turkish Cup final match against Istanbull BB.

On June 10, UEFA announced that Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe face possible sanctions on match-fixing accusations.

“Proceedings have been opened against Beşiktaş and two club officials in relation to match-fixing activities that are alleged to have taken place during the 2011 Turkish Cup final,” UEFA said in a written statement published on its website.

“Furthermore, following the investigation into alleged match-fixing activities involving Fenerbahçe, the UEFA Disciplinary Inspector has now submitted his findings to the Control and Disciplinary Body, in the context of disciplinary proceedings against this club and five club officials,” the statement read.

Both Turkish clubs and their executives are involved in a match-fixing probe that started on July 3, 2011, regarding a number of games in the 2010-2011 season, when the league was won by Fenerbahçe. Several Fenerbahçe officials, including chairman Yıldırım and vice-chairman Mosturoğlu, were found guilty of rigging when the judge gave his verdict last July.