The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) on Friday suspended 149 referees accused of betting on matches.

According to the TFF, in a statement sighted by New Telegraph, its disciplinary committee had handed out suspensions ranging from eight to 12 months.

The TFF added that investigations are continuing into three other referees, who were also alleged of the same crime.

An investigation by the federation into 571 referees in the Turkish professional leagues revealed on Monday that 371 of them had sports betting accounts and 152 were actively betting.

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“Refereeing is a profession of honour,” said TFF president Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu on Thursday.”

“Anyone who tarnishes that honour…will never again be involved in Turkish football,”

The TFF said on Monday that 22 of the officials (seven match referees and 15 assistants) work in the top league.

Ten of the referees listed by the TFF placed more than 10,000 bets, with one of them alone placing 18,227 bets. Forty-two referees each bet on more than 1,000 football matches, the head of Turkish football said on Friday.

However, he did not specify whether any of them were suspected of betting on matches they had officiated.

An investigation has also been launched by the Istanbul public prosecutor’s office.