Türkiye puts a former Premier in charge of the Referees Committee

The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) has appointed this Tuesday Anthony Taylorformer Premier League referee, as president of the Central Committee of Referees, in reaction to the scandal that has led members of the previous board to jail for manipulating promotions and match allocation.

Taylor, 47, has been part of the TFF since last August, when he retired from professional activity after the 2026 World Cup. It is the first time that a foreigner has headed the highest body of Turkish referees.

In preventive detention

The British replaces Ferhat Dündogduwho resigned earlier this month after being sent to preventive detention, along with four other directors, under accusations of falsifying documents and bad practices to marginalize certain professionals and favor others.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the accused had reached an agreement in a non-regulatory manner on which referee would be assigned to which match and had manipulated the promotion process among the referees. It has not been suggested that these practices have affected the outcome of the matches played.

Among the finals that Taylor has whistled are the 2023 Europa League finals in which the Sevilla beat Roma 5 to 2; the 2021 European Super Cup (Bayern Munich 2 – Sevilla 1); that of the 2021 Nations League (Spain-France, 1:2) and that of the 2022 Club World Cup (Real Madrid-Al Hilal, 5:3).

Confidence in the cleanliness of Turkish football has been at a low point since last year the TFF launched a large-scale operation to put an end to the participation of football officials in sports betting, a practice prohibited by the rules.

Today the Federation imposed a fine of suspension of rights of 45 days to Ertugrul Dogan, president of Trabzonspor, for having a legal football betting account.