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Turkey match-fix probe turns on Besiktas

Supporters of Besiktas cheer during a match in Istanbul in February 2011. The Turkish football match-fixing probe on Tuesday widened to league giants Besiktas, with the arrest of two club officials, Anatolia news agency reported

The Turkish football match-fixing probe on Tuesday widened to league giants Besiktas, with the arrest of two club officials, Anatolia news agency reported. Besiktas vice-president Serdar Adali and technical director Tayfur Havutcu were summoned to appear at Istanbul police headquarters for questioning before being taken into custody. Besiktas, who finished fifth in the Turkish league last season, are one of Istanbul's three big clubs along with Fenerbahce and Galatasaray. Since July 3, Turkish police have arrested more than 80 footballers and club officials as part of a far-reaching match-fixing probe into 19 first division matches, with 26 suspects placed in provisional detention. Among the biggest names taken in are Aziz Yildirim and Sadri Sener, respective presidents of current champions Fenerbahce and Champions League hopefuls Trabzonspor. Sener was released on Tuesday on the condition that he remained in Turkey. The latest wave of arrests also included Mehmet Levent Kizil, the former executive committe member of the national football federation, and Ankaragucu goalkeeper Serdar Kulbilge. National football federation head Mehmet Ali Aydinlar insisted on Monday, however, that the league would start on August 5 as planned, adding that the federation would not take any disciplinary action against the clubs concerned until the prosecutors' indictment was ready. The federation has until Friday to notify UEFA of which teams will play in European competitions. Police are investigating the outcome of 19 matches in Turkey's top two divisions last season which ended with Fenerbahce clinching the title on the final day by goal difference from Trabzonspor. The inquiry and arrests have created shock waves among football supporters amid the prospect that Fenerbahce could be stripped of the title.