Top officials arrested in Turkey match-fixing case

Turkish police have arrested around 30 people, including the president of a top side as part of an ongoing investigation into Football match-fixing.

Tehran: Turkish police have arrested around 30 people, including the president of top side Fenerbahce as part of an ongoing investigation into match-fixing in football, a news agency reported on Sunday.

Aziz Yildirim was taken into custody early Sunday along with the club`s vice-president Sekip Mosturoglu, the vice-president of Trabzonspor, Nevzat Sakar, and the technical director of Eskisehirspor, Umit Karan, the agency said. Several footballers were also among those arrested in Ankara including Gençlerbirligi striker Serkan Calik and Ankaragücü goalkeeper Serdar Kulbilge, both Turkish international players. The agency also said that a police search was under way at the headquarters of Fenerbahçe, the reigning champions of Turkey, who also reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2008. Arrests linked to the investigation also took place in the central town of Sivas where the president of Sivasspor, Mecnun Odyakmaz was taken in for questioning and at Izmir in the west where the cousin of Fenerbahçe midfielder Emre Belözoglu was being held.The match-fixing investigation led to many arrests last year but this was the first time such high-level officials have been taken into custody. Bureau Report