Fenerbahçe Sports Club President Sadettin Saran has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison in a case in which he was tried on charges of promoting illegal betting.
The decision was handed down by the Istanbul 23rd Criminal Court of First Instance following a trial. Prosecutors accused Saran and his brother Alan Kenan Saran of facilitating and promoting unauthorised sports-betting advertisements. The alleged activity took place during televised match coverage distributed via the S Sport streaming platform. The court also imposed a TL 562,500 ($12,235) judicial fine on both men.
S Sport operated under Saran Holding, which the accused founded in 1990 in Istanbul.
The case centred on allegations that illegal betting advertisements were displayed during football matches through both physical and digital placements. Prosecutors said the ads appeared on stadium perimeter boards and as virtual overlays behind goals, arguing that the broadcasts reached large audiences.
In the indictment, prosecutors relied in part on findings requested from Turkey's broadcasting regulator RTÜK, which reviewed match transmissions aired in 2023 under Saran Internet Television Broadcasting Inc.
The findings concluded that unauthorised betting promotions were present in streamed football content and were not properly licensed under Turkish regulations governing gambling advertising.
The prosecution also argued that responsibility extended beyond operational staff to senior executives overseeing programming decisions. It said company leaders who had knowledge of and approved broadcasts containing illegal advertising could be held jointly liable for the content distributed under their authority.
Saran and his co-defendants denied the allegations throughout the proceedings and requested acquittal at the final hearing.
In a recent investigation, Turkish authorities identified transaction volumes of approximately TL 193.37bn linked to suspected illegal gambling. Judicial proceedings were initiated against 104 suspects as part of a nationwide operation spanning 27 provinces.
Turkish lawmakers are in the process of drafting regulations that will introduce prison sentences for individuals involved in illegal gambling
