Süper Lig referee Yasin Kol has been arrested as part of an expanding investigation into alleged misconduct within Turkish football refereeing.
Kol was arrested over alleged match-fixing and incentive payments, while assistant referee Göktuğ Hazar Erel was arrested over alleged forgery of official documents. Both had been taken into custody before being transferred to Istanbul's Çağlayan courthouse.
The investigation is being conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office's Illegal Betting and Sports Crimes Bureau. Kol and Erel had initially been detained following analysis of digital materials and records from Turkey's Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK).
A MASAK report cited in the investigation identified 5,978 transactions across Kol's accounts between 2012 and 2026, comprising TRY62.5m ($1.27m) in incoming funds and TRY72.1m in outgoing funds.
Total transaction volume was approximately TRY135m. Investigators also identified transfers involving referees who had officiated the same matches as Kol.
Kol previously denied betting, saying that transfers identified in his accounts related to money he had lent to people he knew.
The case forms part of heightened scrutiny of refereeing and betting activity in Turkish football. Five people, including then Central Referee Board (MHK) President Ferhat Gündoğdu, were arrested earlier in October in the separate "Referees File" investigation. Gündoğdu subsequently resigned from his MHK position.
Separately, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) provisionally suspended 448 current and former club officials last week over alleged betting violations. The action followed the previous suspension of 149 referees after an investigation into betting activity among match officials.
Kol remains listed by the TFF as a top-class referee from the Trabzon region, with 469 officiating records in the federation's database. His 2026 assignments included Süper Lig matches as well as VAR and AVAR duties.
In November 2025, Global Gaming Insider reported that 17 referees were held in a Turkish football betting probe, after a TFF audit found 371 referees held betting accounts and 152 had placed wagers. The disciplinary process resulted in 149 referees and assistant referees receiving suspensions.
Kol's TFF records show he officiated Süper Lig fixtures during September 2026, shortly before his detention
