NBA and Now Turkish Football The Problem of Match Fixing and Insider Betting

On the 23rd of October, over 30 NBA-affiliated players and coaches were seized by US authorities in relation to a massive sports betting scheme. The story around Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and a posse of players is still unraveling, don’t expect it to go away anytime soon as these types of affairs can stretch out for years. But what’s fascinating is that on the 27th, just half a week later, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) had revealed a massive football match fixing scandal, involving over 350 referees.

These news articles appear every now and again, but given the high profile nature of the NBA case, and the sheer magnitude of the Turkish football scandal, it opens up many points to discuss. In a world where gambling is so heavily regulated, how do match fixers still get away with it, and perhaps more importantly, are they killing the sport?

Billups, Jones, and Rozier NBA Scandal

34 people, including Chauncey Billups, Damon Jones, and current NBA player Terry Rozier, were arrested in connection with gambling investigations. Rozier, a current guard with the Miami Heat, is accused of tipping off associates with key betting insights. For instance, he preplanned a dubious injury during a game back in March 2023, a game that his associates staked $200k on. He is mostly charged with rigging illegal props bets. Rozier is also involved in an underground illegal poker scheme.

Billups has also been connected to illegal poker rings, separate from those of Rozier, but Billups and Jones are in deeper water. They have also been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and it is thought that they have been helping the Mafia of organizing rigged poker games. The high stakes poker games used many advanced cheating systems and tech, including modified playing card shuffling machines, contact lenses, X-ray tables, and more. Dealers were in on the scheme, and every aspect, from the card shuffling and even the chip counting, robbed the victims of an approximate $7 million.

Turkish Referees’ Football Match Fixing Scandal

All the way in Turkey, on October 27th, the TFF, or Turkish Football Federation (Türkiye Futbol Federasyonu) revealed a most monumental referee betting scandal. Of the 571 active referees in the pro leagues, 371 had betting accounts and 152 officials placed bets regularly. Delving further, the president of the TTF, Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu, went on to reveal that one official placed over 18,200 bets, and that 42 of the referees had bet on over 1,000 matches each. Others were mostly found to have placed only a handful of bets.

In accordance with the TFF’s disciplinary code, referees (and anyone involved with the sport) found to have placed bets could face bans ranging from 3 months to 1 year. There have been many high profile football players who have been found guilty of placing bets, including the following:

• Ivan Toney: 2017-2021, Toney made 230+ breaches. Banned for 8 months
• Sandro Tonali: 2023, Tonali made 50 breaches. Banned for 10 months (Italy) and 2 months (FA)
• Kieran Trippier: 2019, Trippier provided insider information on his transfer (Tottenham to Atletico Madrid). Banned for 10 weeks
• Daniel Sturridge: 2018, Sturridge provided insider information about a potential transfer. Banned for 4 months
• Joey Barton: 2006-2016, Barton placed over 1,200 bets on matches. Banned for 18 months

But this is not just one football player making bets. It is a systematic betting scandal that affects all of Turkish football.

Not Turkey’s First Battle with Match Fixing

While scandalous, these are all isolated events. And the Turkish scandal is not. Turkey did have a massive sports corruption scandal back in 2011, when 60 people were charged with match fixing and bribery in the top two football divisions (Super Lig and First League). Top teams Fenerbahce and Besiktas were banned from European competitions for 2 seasons, but Fenerbahce was allowed to keep its 2010-11 Super Lig title despite the allegations. A lot of the charges were overturned later, but it made a serious scar on Turkish football.

This 2025 Turkish football scandal is way bigger, and could have more devastating consequences for Turkish football. It won’t be resolved in the next few weeks, and there will undoubtedly be huge legal battles and countersuits in the aftermath.

Consequences for the Sports

The high profile nature of both of these cases is what is really shocking. Match fixing and sports betting scandals are nothing new nor uncommon; there have been many and they don’t all relate to obscure sports leagues or lesser followed sports people.

Remember when Shohei Ohtani’s translator was accused of betting on sports, or, going a bit further back, short-lived England manager Sam Allardyce, who left the job in 2016 after just 67 days due to claims of insider betting and malpractice.

How Insider Betting Still Happens

Anyone who signs up at online sportsbooks or even licensed online casinos can tell you, the KYC systems are pretty comprehensive. Licensed sites have to verify the identity of users, in America, that can mean asking for the last 4 digits of your SSN, or elsewhere, by uploading ID-verification documents. In the terms and conditions, they clearly state you cannot bet on any sports that you may have affiliations or insider information about. Player acquaintances, family members, coaching staff, and all. Yet still, it is extremely tough to trace whether or not you have any affiliations with the sports. And at international sites that have minimal KYC (especially crypto betting sites) it is more accessible for individuals.

It is not all premeditated and direct though. There have also been cases of sports athletes being coerced or even bribed. It happens more often with sports athletes who are financially vulnerable or have lower salaries – in the US, think college sports and minor leagues. In the US, there have been plenty of college sports betting scandals, and that’s why some states are highly restrictive on what college sports games you can bet on. Right now, there is even a movement to allow college athletes to bet on pro leagues, with the intention to also amplify the betting education and help regulate the insider betting.

What Gambling Authorities Are Doing to Clamp Down

Gambling authorities have gone to all kinds of measures to prevent these instances, from rolling out more comprehensive KYC protocols to improving the data sharing between sportsbooks. In Brazil, biometric ID verification is mandatory for all licensed sites. Spain is in the middle of rolling out an AI deposit monitoring system to detect problem gambling habits and also potential money laundering or fraud. The list goes on. But the one area that authorities cannot really control themselves are the international betting sites, which operate legally from other gambling jurisdictions where the legislation may be more permissive.

The gray market, as officials like to call it, is an area that gambling regulators are trying to restrict. Recently, the Curacao Gaming Authority underwent a complete restructuring, and under the new LOK legislation, it will make operators more accountable for their sites, without being able to sub license affiliates. In Italy, where there have been numerous historic betting scandals, the ADM gambling regulator recently announced it would cut back on sub-licensed operators. In other words, companies can only run 1 betting site for every licence they have, and not launch numerous clone sites or affiliate skin sites.

How Damaging Betting Scandals Are to Sports

At the end of the day, the biggest damages are not the disciplinary bans, fines or rescinded medals and trophies. No, the biggest damage is done to the fanbase, as they lose trust in the games and betting sites. It deters engagement and can take years for the sports organizations to win back the faith of their loyal fanbase. Especially when the scandals happen on massive and high-profile scales.

As the gambling landscape expands globally, the lines between legal betting, insider access, and outright manipulation are blurring faster than regulators can adapt. The real question is whether the industry can innovate in integrity as fast as it has in monetization. Match fixing and insider trading is just as important an issue as responsible gambling and gambling marketing. It is an area where operators and lawmakers are on one page, and they need to work together to clamp down on the illegal betting schemes and bring back integrity to the sports.