A major investigation into Türkiye’s football refereeing system has led to the detention of seven people, including Central Referees Committee (MHK) President Ferhat Gündoğdu, over allegations involving workplace bullying and official document forgery.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched the “Referees File” investigation after receiving a complainant’s statement on Sept. 15, 2025. Investigators said they examined open-source material, Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) findings, historical telephone records, witness and complainant statements, and expert reports before determining that Gündoğdu and others could be linked to the alleged offenses.

Police carried out simultaneous operations Tuesday in Istanbul, Ankara, Elazığ and Manisa. Seven suspects were detained, including Gündoğdu, who oversees refereeing through the MHK, a body operating under the Turkish Football Federation (TFF).

Those detained are Gündoğdu; Ferdi Karadoruk, president of the TFF Active Referees Association; Sebahattin Şahin, an MHK member and TFF education and fourth-region official; Emre Kosif, president of the TFF Referees and Observers Association’s Istanbul Provincial Referee Board; Alican Sağlar, organizational official of the association’s Istanbul branch; former MHK vice president Ahmet Şahin; and former MHK member Yunus Yıldırım.

Center of investigation

Investigators have examined message records that allegedly shed light on how referee examinations and appointments were handled.

According to records cited in the investigation, referee G.H.E. contacted Karadoruk on May 15, 2025, asking about questions for a refereeing examination. Karadoruk allegedly replied that he had requested them from Emre Kosif and would ask again.

Four days later, G.H.E. reportedly reminded Karadoruk about the questions. Karadoruk allegedly responded that he was asking Kosif for them for a third time and would return to the matter after a May 19 program.

The file also contains an alleged message from Karadoruk concerning Istanbul provincial referee board member Mehmet Çaylak. In the message, Karadoruk allegedly discussed withholding observer assignments from Çaylak and using pressure in an effort to make him resign.

The messages form part of the evidence being examined by prosecutors and do not, by themselves, establish that the alleged offenses occurred.

Alleged manipulation

The investigation extends beyond individual messages, with prosecutors examining alleged irregularities involving referee appointments, classifications, scoring and evaluation procedures.

Investigators are also examining claims of interference in refereeing examinations, including allegations that questions and grading were manipulated during a 2025 examination in Riva and that some results were subsequently changed.

WhatsApp conversations allegedly found on a phone belonging to Karadoruk have also been examined. The phone was reportedly seized and analyzed in connection with a separate obscenity investigation, with some messages allegedly concerning the selection of referee lists.

The investigation has also raised allegations involving the unlawful acquisition of personal data, breach of trust and other offenses against some of the suspects. The specific allegations vary by individual and remain subject to the ongoing investigation.

Searches across four provinces

The Istanbul Financial Crimes Branch conducted the operation under the coordination of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office’s Illegal Betting and Sports Crimes Bureau.

Authorities said evidence gathered through financial investigations, telephone records, witness testimony, open-source research and expert analysis pointed to possible links between Gündoğdu, MHK members, referees and observers.

Searches were carried out at addresses connected to the suspects, with authorities seeking digital material, appointment records and documents potentially relevant to the investigation.

The suspects were taken for mandatory medical examinations before being transferred to police facilities for questioning.

Justice Minister Akın Gürlek confirmed the operation and said the investigation had uncovered findings concerning alleged interference in referee classifications, appointments, scoring and examination procedures.

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Goalkeeper Vozinha helped Cape Verde reach this year’s World Cup round of 32 with clean sheets against Spain and Saudi Arabia, but the 40-year-old says he is struggling to cope with the sudden fame.

Cape Verde, a collection ​of islands ⁠near Africa’s west coast with a population of some 500,000, surprisingly reached the knockout stage in their first appearance at the global tournament before losing 3-2 to Argentina.

Vozinha, whose performances earned him a Yashin Trophy nomination for the year’s best goalkeeper, has become a global star, with his Instagram follower count ballooning from 56,000 ⁠to ⁠28 million people.

“I’ve lost my peace and tranquillity. I no longer have any privacy,” Vozinha told Britain’s Observer newspaper.

“I go to a restaurant, and there’s always someone who wants to take a photo with me or asks me for an autograph. Or worse, someone’s filming me … ⁠I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it.”

His family members have also been affected, with fans showing ​up daily at his mother’s house in Cape Verde.

“I’m ​not there, so I can’t help them,” said Vozinha, who left Portuguese second-tier club ⁠Chaves ‌to ‌join Chile’s Colo-Colo in July.

“A lot ⁠of people want to be ‌famous … but they only see the positive side of ​that reality. To be ⁠honest, if I were offered the ⁠life I have today or the life ⁠I had before, ​I’d choose the one I had before.”

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Greek substitute Dimitrios Kourbelis scored a solitary goal to stun Germany 1-0 away in the Nations League Sunday, while Ireland’s players – in remembrance of Gaza – wore black armbands during their match against Israel.

Portugal coach Jorge Jesus dropped Cristiano Ronaldo and was rewarded as his replacement Goncalo Ramos scored the winner in a 2-1 success away to Norway.

Jurgen Klopp, however, was made to wait for his maiden victory in charge of an ineffective Germany as Kourbelis’s deflected second-half strike settled the game in Augsburg.

The former Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund boss had made five changes to his team which drew 1-1 with the Netherlands Thursday as he sought to give more of his players a chance to impress him.

Although midfielder Bambase Conte had an impressive debut and Germany dominated possession, they rarely threatened Konstantinos Tzolakis’s goal.

“Personally, I’m completely unbothered by it. I’ve lost far more matches in my life than I would have liked,” Klopp told ARD.

“We absolutely need these kinds of matches – they are exactly the games we wanted to have.”

Ireland back Gaza

Ireland’s players came out wearing black armbands for their match with Israel in Hungary which almost did not take place due to heavy pressure back in Ireland on the team to boycott the game over the war in Gaza.

Only a player vote in midweek allowed the game to go ahead.

Ireland has long been a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause and the players bowed their heads as the Israeli anthem was played before the match.

The teams skipped the traditional prematch handshakes and did not exchange pennants either in a near-empty stadium in Debrecen.

Troy Parrott made a heart sign with his hands after opening the scoring on 14 minutes, while Jack Moylan kissed the Irish badge on his jersey and his black armband after netting the third goal 25 minutes in.

Ireland won the game 3-0 but Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused them of being “on the wrong side of history” over the players’ actions.

In Oslo, Joao Felix gave Portugal a 17th-minute lead as an unusually profligate Erling Haaland squandered a succession of chances.

He did eventually equalize for the hosts six minutes into the second half, but almost immediately, goalkeeper Orjan Nyland gifted Ramos a simple finish for the winner.

“The most important thing is to show what I can do whenever I’m called upon and to contribute to the team,” Ramos told Sport TV, without being drawn on his selection ahead of Ronaldo.

Meerdink brace gives Xavi win

The Netherlands gave Xavi Hernandez his first win as head coach as Mexx Meerdink’s brace earned a 2-1 success over Serbia in Belgrade.

The Oranje turned to Barcelona great Xavi after a disappointing World Cup last-32 exit at the hands of Morocco.

But Xavi’s men forged ahead on the half-hour mark as AZ Alkmaar striker Meerdink drilled in a penalty to score his first international goal after Aleksa Terzic fouled Crysencio Summerville.

Half-time substitute Luka Jovic turned in the equalizer following a goalmouth scramble less than a minute after the restart.

But the visitors reclaimed the lead in the 69th minute as Meerdink, who made his Netherlands debut against Germany, fired a left-footed shot into the bottom corner after being played in by substitute Guus Til.

Denmark bounced back from Thursday’s dramatic loss to Norway by seeing off Wales 2-0 in Copenhagen in Group A4.

The Scandinavians, who missed out on the World Cup with a penalty shoot-out defeat by the Czech Republic in the play-offs, have now won their last four meetings with Wales.

They went ahead eight minutes into the second period when Wales skipper Ben Davies diverted Mikkel Damsgaard’s free-kick into his own net with his arm.

Denmark doubled their advantage 13 minutes later when Gustav Isaksen’s deflected shot spun in off the crossbar.

In League B, Austria made it two wins from two as David Affengruber, Junior Adamu and Carney Chukwuemeka scored in a 3-1 win over Kosovo in Vienna.

China’s 18-year-old Yan Ziyi shattered the Asian Games record to win javelin gold, showcasing her rare talent on a day marked by a medalist’s failed doping test and a decorated badminton player calling the event “sad.”

Day eight saw golds awarded in athletics, diving, skateboarding, squash and weightlifting.

On another wet day in Aichi-Nagoya, Yan dominated the women’s javelin with her first and only throw of 70.46 meters.

The throw set a new Games record, surpassing the 66.09-meter mark by compatriot Liu Shiying in 2018 and placing Japan’s reigning Olympic champion Haruka Kitaguchi in a distant second with 62.70 meters.

Yan’s remarkable throw was the sixth-best of all time. The world record of 72.28 meters was set by Barbora Spotakova in 2008.

Yan is closing in. She hurled 71.74 meters in May, the second-best throw of all time.

On the track, Thailand’s Puripol Boonson completed a sprint double, winning the men’s 200-meter after his 100-meter victory.

His time of 19.88 seconds equaled the Asian record.

Asked how much faster he can run, the 20-year-old said: “I can’t say how fast it’s going to be, but it’s going to be more records and faster.”

By the end of day eight, China topped the medals table with 119 golds, followed by Japan with 37 and South Korea with 20.

North Korea had more record-setting success in weightlifting, bringing its total to six golds out of 10 available in the sport so far.

China maintained its unbeaten start in diving, while two teenagers won gold in the street skateboarding finals.

China’s Zhu Yuanling, 15, won the women’s event, and South Korea’s Juni Kang, 17, won the men’s title.

Kang aims for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

“I want to be No. 1 in LA,” he said.

Malaysia dominated the squash, with Ng Eain Yow winning the men’s event and compatriot Sivasangari Subramaniam winning the women’s singles.

Both secured spots at the Los Angeles Games.

‘Disappointing experience’

To save money, organizers in Aichi-Nagoya did not build a traditional athletes’ village. Competitors instead stayed in hotels, temporary wooden units or on a cruise ship.

India’s multiple badminton medalist H.S. Prannoy said that made for a disappointing experience.

“It was sad,” said the 34-year-old, who won team bronze, in a YouTube video published by the Badminton Association of India.

The Games have experienced problems, including a shortage of rooms, long delays at the airport and poor transport services.

Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Shavkatov became the first medalist at the Games to test positive for doping.

Shavkatov, who won bronze in mixed martial arts, was provisionally suspended after testing positive for the banned substance meldonium, the International Testing Agency said.

The drug is a prescription heart medication that improves endurance and accelerates muscle recovery.

Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal scored the winner as the world champions capitalized on two costly England defensive errors to beat the hosts 3-2 at Wembley Saturday in the standout Nations League opener.

Less than 10 weeks after lifting the World Cup, Spain, unbeaten in 39 games, made England pay in scoring their first two goals.

Teen sensation Lamine Yamal struck in the second minute when Marc Guehi was ​caught in possession deep inside his own half. Alex Baena scored on the hour ​after ⁠Nico O’Reilly’s misplaced pass handed possession back to the visitors.

Oyarzabal, who also got the winner against England in the 2024 European Championship final, struck the decider in the 74th minute with a clever dink over goalkeeper James Trafford.

“There are many matches within a match and we’ve known how to play them all at every moment,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said. “England has a lot of talent to hurt at any moment, but we’ve controlled the game.”

Spain’s victory spoiled what had briefly looked like being a memorable England comeback – and a small measure of redemption after their heartbreaking World Cup semifinal loss to Argentina.

England had turned the game on its head in a thrilling four-minute span, with Anthony Gordon’s 36th-minute equalizer sparking a blistering spell that culminated in captain Harry Kane heading the hosts in front.

“We’re playing against the world champions, the European champions, and we went ⁠toe-to-toe,” ⁠Kane told ITV. “On another day for sure we’d have won that game.”

Kane was left shaking his head though after firing a second-half penalty off the inside of the crossbar when his left foot slipped upon planting.

“Terrible start, the worst start possible,” England manager Thomas Tuchel said. “Makes it so, so difficult to be behind against this kind of team. The reaction was very good, very good.”

“The third goal was the only one they really scored – the others were from individual, big mistakes,” he added.

England and Spain had arrived at Wembley with very different World Cup memories.The Spaniards looked to build on their triumph, while Tuchel’s men were still feeling the scars of defeat and aiming to show they could narrow the gap.

Evergreen Modric

In Saturday’s other Group A3 game, Croatia gave new manager Slaven Bilic a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic as evergreen captain Luka Modric once again proved influential before Marco Pasalic struck the decisive goal.

The 41-year-old Modric, still the heartbeat of the Croatia side more than two ​decades after his international debut, put the visitors ahead two minutes after the break.

The Czechs responded through Adam Karabec in the ​54th minute but Pasalic restored Croatia’s advantage with 13 minutes remaining to secure all three points.

The game marked a new start for both sides.

Bilic is back in charge of Croatia after Zlatko Dalic’s departure following their Round-of-32 World ⁠Cup defeat by ‌Portugal, while Spaniard ‌Santi Denia was appointed the Czechs’ boss after their group-stage exit.

Scotland began life under ⁠Sebastien Pocognoli with a 0-0 draw away to Slovenia in Group B1, offering ‌glimpses of the more attacking style the Belgian hopes to implement following manager Steve Clarke’s departure after Scotland’s World Cup exit.

Oli McBurnie, back in theScotland fold ​after a five-year absence, had some of ⁠the best chances but a string of brilliant saves from Jan Oblak had the Scots ⁠settling for a point.

Switzerland made an impressive start to their first League B campaign, with Remo Freuler opening the scoring and ⁠Zeki Amdouni netting the first ​of his two goals before halftime en route to a 3-0 win away to North Macedonia.

Finland’s Joel Pohjanpalo scored a hat trick to help his country to a 7-0 thrashing of San Marino in Group C1.

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Türkiye and Italy seek to bounce back from opening-day defeats when they clash in a crucial UEFA Nations League A Group 1 fixture at Bursa’s Yüzüncü Yıl Atatürk Stadium Monday night.

Both nations find themselves playing catch-up early in the campaign following far from ideal starts. Türkiye made their debut at the League A level Friday after consecutive promotions from Europe’s third tier, but suffered a 1-0 defeat against France in Kocaeli.

Italy, meanwhile, fell 2-0 to Belgium in Rome, marking a frustrating return to the bench for head coach Roberto Mancini.

With early group leaders France and Belgium meeting simultaneously in Brussels, both Türkiye and Italy face mounting pressure to pick up points in the second of four rapid-fire fixtures during the current international window.

The match features a compelling subplot on the touchline as Türkiye head coach Vincenzo Montella faces his former Sampdoria and Italian national team colleague, Roberto Mancini.

Montella, who earned 20 caps and scored three goals for Italy during his playing career, is aiming to steady his side after a difficult run of results.

Following a group-stage exit at the 2026 World Cup, where the Crescent-Stars lost to Austria and Paraguay before defeating the United States, Friday’s loss to France marked Türkiye’s third defeat in four matches.

For Mancini, the fixture represents an immediate test after returning to lead the Azzurri following a three-year stint in Saudi Arabia.

He was reappointed in July, taking over from Gennaro Gattuso after Italy suffered an unprecedented third consecutive failure to qualify for the World Cup.

Mancini replaced Gattuso following another playoff disaster, while interim manager Silvio Baldini had previously overseen a youthful squad in summer friendlies.

He named an expanded 34-man squad featuring several fresh faces, but Italy’s tactical overhaul yielded immediate frustration. Conceding goals midway through each half against Belgium at the Stadio Olimpico, Italy suffered their first competitive loss to the Belgians since 1972.

Tactical Selection

Türkiye will be forced to make a change in goal after starting goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır was shown a straight red card following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review in the second half against France.

Çakır, who held France goalless for nearly an hour before Kylian Mbappe scored the opener, will serve a suspension, handing the starting gloves to Altay Bayındır.

Montella remains severely depleted in midfield and attack. Italy-based stars Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Kenan Yıldız are sidelined with injuries, while midfielder Orkun Kökçü remains out with an ongoing toe problem after missing the opener against France.

Former Juventus defender Merih Demiral will captain Türkiye, with Real Madrid’s Arda Güler expected to direct the attack.

Italy also enter the contest with significant squad absentees. Defender Federico Dimarco, midfielder Bryan Cristante, and Juventus captain Manuel Locatelli are out injured.

While defender Alessandro Bastoni returns from a suspension, forward Mateo Retegui was omitted from the selection. Moise Kean and Gianluca Scamacca are vying with brothers Sebastiano and Pio Esposito for starting positions up front.

Mancini’s squad options also include new additions Alessandro Romano, who chose Italy over Switzerland, and Brentford defender Michael Kayode. Italy will be captained by 27-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who brings 84 senior international caps to the side.

Monday’s encounter marks the 17th meeting between Türkiye and Italy in international football. Türkiye remain winless against the Azzurri, holding a record of five draws and 11 defeats while being outscored 29 to 10. The two sides last met in an international friendly on June 4, 2024, playing to a 0-0 draw.

The fixture represents Türkiye’s 656th senior international match. Across 655 previous matches (366 competitive, 289 friendlies), Türkiye have posted 260 wins, 244 losses, and 151 draws, scoring 906 goals while conceding 933.

Montella will take charge of his 38th match as Türkiye head coach. Across his previous 37 games (28 competitive, nine friendlies), Montella has guided the national team to 21 wins, 11 losses and five draws.

The match will mark Türkiye’s 11th international fixture hosted in Bursa, where they hold a record of four wins, two draws, and four losses.

It will be their third match at the Yüzüncü Yıl Atatürk Stadium since Bursaspor moved to the venue in 2016, following a 2-0 victory over Bulgaria in November 2025.

English referee Michael Oliver will officiate the match, assisted by Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring, with Darren England serving as the fourth official. Stuart Attwell will oversee Video Assistant Referee duties, supported by AVAR Matthew Donohue.

The match is scheduled to kick off at 9:45 p.m. local time (6:45 p.m GMT) and will be broadcast live on ATV.