Turkish match-fixing in the spotlight

Bribery has become such a phenomenon in Turkish football that a court on Friday accepted the indictment of no fewer than 93 players, coaches and officials.

The 400-page charge-sheet alleges the ringleaders were Aziz Yildirim, the chairman of the Istanbul club Fenerbahce, arguably the most popular team in Turkey, and Olgun Peker, a former chairman of the second division club Giresunspor, who is widely accused of mafia connections.

Parliament re-passed the Bill on the Prevention of Violence and Irregularity in Sport on Saturday, with 284 votes in favour, six votes against and one abstention.

Only the smallest of the four parties in the assembly, the Kurdish Nationalist Peace and Democracy Party, came out against the bill, which reduces the maximum sentence for influencing a game from 12 years to three years.

President Gul had vetoed the bill on 2 December, saying the attempt to reduce the punishment had given the impression the bill was tailored for 'individuals involved in an ongoing investigation rather than emerging out of necessity'.

Several commentators agreed with him, among them Turkey's best-known TV host, Mehmet Ali Birand, who wrote a newspaper column saying the amendment 'contradicts the public conscience'.

However, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, now convalescing from intestinal surgery, was reportedly impressed by the degree of cross-party support for the amendment and instructed his party to send it back to parliament for a re-vote.

Under the constitution, Gul cannot veto the bill again. He can either sign it into law or refer it to the Constitutional Court, which can block the legislation.