Azerbaijan , Baku, Aug.25 / Trend
Head coach of the Turkish Football Team "Fenerbahce" Aykut Kocaman resigned today after news that his team will be unable to participate in the 2011-2012 UEFA Champions League, CNN Turk reported.
Fenerbahce football team will not be able to participate in the 2011-2012 UEFA Champions League.
In a letter sent to the TFF on Aug. 23, 2011, the UEFA said that Fenerbahce should refuse attending the Champions League this season, due to match-fixing probes in Turkey.
"In a special meeting of the TFF Executive Board on Wednesday, a decision was made to ban Fenerbahce from the Champions League this season by taking into consideration the heavy disciplinary sanctions that Fenerbahce and the TFF may face", the TFF statement says.
A Police operation was launched on July 3 in all 12 provinces of Turkey, including Istanbul and Ankara. The president of the Turkish football organization Fenerbahce Aziz Yildirim was detained and arrested during the investigation for fixing matches between the Istanbul organization and the "Eskishehirspor" team during the 2010-2011 season, which was won by "Fenerbahce" with a score of 3-1.
The previous President of the Turkish football organization Trabzonspor, Sadri Sener, and Turkish Football Federation Board Member Levent Kızıl, were detained.
Turkish media does not exclude the possibility of a near future increase in the number of detainees. They predict that as many as 150 may be arrested, though official sources will not confirm this information.
This is the second major operation by Turkish police on football anti-corruption. Some 55 people, including well-known coaches and players in Turkey, were arrested in March and April 2010 in Istanbul.