Turkish Soccer Season Delayed Due to Match-Fixing Scandal

The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) has announced that it’s domestic soccer season will be delayed by one month as officials deal with the ongoing match-fixing scandal which has implicated many of Turkey’s top clubs.

The 2011-12 Spor Toto SuperLig season was scheduled to start on August 7, but has now been put back to September 9, whilst the second tier of Turkish football, the Bank Asya 1. League, will start a day later.

The scandal has already seen a Turkish court jail 31 people pending trial on charges of match fixing, including the chairman of SuperLig champions Fenerbahce and the coach and deputy chairman of rivals Besiktas. The TFF stated it will meet with club chairmen on Tuesday to discuss the next steps.

Fenerbahce won the league title last season after a remarkable end-of-season run of form saw Trabzonspor edged out on goal difference. Besiktas lifted the Turkish Cup after beating Buyuksehir in a penalty shoot-out. Media reports indicate Besiktas’ Cup final victory is one of 19 games highlighted in the police investigation, along with Fenerbahce’s title-clinching 4-3 victory over Sivasspor on the final day of the season.