LOTS OF TIME

Turkish Court Sentences Fenerbahce Soccer Match-Rigging Case Defendants to 1,000 Years in Prison Each

Sentences issued 10 years after a court convicted the president of Turkey’s Fenerbahce for match-fixing and rivals alleged a scheme tied to exiled spiritual leader Fethullah Gulen.

A Turkish media executive and former police chief who conspired to bring match-fixing charges against soccer club Fenerbahce were sentenced Friday to a combined 3,500 years in prison. Ten years after a court convicted Fenerbahce’s former president for match-fixing, the court sentenced media executive Hidayet Karaca to 1,406 years behind bars for inciting phone-tapping and forgery, and former police chief Nazmi Ardic was sentenced to 2,170 years in prison for forgery and conspiracy. At least 25 other prison sentences have been issued, according to the state-owned news agency Anadolu. The case was initially closed after the sentencing of the club’s former president, Aziz Yildirim, but prosecutors reopened the case in 2016 after a rival soccer team accused the initial match-fixing charges to have been a part of a conspiracy planned by supporters of Fethullah Gulen, who Turkish officials have accused of masterminding an attempted coup in 2016. Gulen lives in exile in Pennsylvania and has denied involvement.