Besiktas return Turkish Cup amid match-fix probe

ISTANBUL (AFP) - Turkish Cup winners Besiktas said on Thursday they were returning the trophy to their football federation until cleared in a massive match-fixing probe, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The announcement came after Besiktas vice-president Serdal Adali and coach Tayfur Havutcu were charged and jailed overnight, pending trial as part of an expanding probe into match-fixing and bribery that has already landed some 30 people in prison over the past two weeks.

"We told (football federation president) Mehmet Ali Aydinlar that we would like to return the cup… We will take it back after our people are cleared," Besiktas president Yildirim Demiroren said, according to Anatolia.

"The federation's response was affirmative. We will make a detailed statement later."

It was not immediately clear how the decision would affect the berth in next season's UEFA competition that the club had secured with the cup victory.

Media reports have said the cup final between Besiktas and IBB is one of the games under investigation. Besiktas won the match on penalties.

Besiktas, who finished fifth in the league, are one of Istanbul's three big clubs along with Fenerbahce and Galatasaray, which dominate Turkish football.

Among those behind bars and awaiting trial is Aziz Yildirim, the president of reigning champions Fenerbahce, who risk being stripped of the title.

Police say they have obtained evidence of match-fixing and bribery in 19 games in the first and second divisions.

The suspects are accused of manipulating games last season, which saw Fenerbahce clinch the title in the last game, outstripping Trabzonspor on goal difference.

Trabzonspor, the most prominent provincial team, have also been implicated, with their president Sadri Sener questioned and released on bail earlier this week.

The Turkish football federation insisted on Monday that the league would start on August 5 as planned, ruling out any disciplinary sanctions against the implicated clubs until prosecutors draw up an indictment.

The inquiry and arrests have sent shockwaves among fans in the football-mad country, amid the prospect of Fenerbahce losing the title.