President Abdullah Gul on Monday explained the reasons behind his veto of recent amendments passed in Parliament for a law covering sports crimes, saying the proposed jail terms were hardly deterrents to the crime of match-fixing, Today's Zaman reported.
"I saw that there was an imbalance between the crime and punishment [in the amended law] and that its [original] deterrent effect was watered down," he told reporters on Monday.
Gul, who earlier said he was uneasy with recent amendments made in Parliament to a law covering sports crimes, vetoed amendments that aimed to reduce prison terms for those convicted of match-fixing on Friday. A bill that proposes an amendment to the Law on the Prevention of Violence and Disorder at Sporting Events, which governs crimes related to professional sports and was passed in Parliament just six months ago, was approved in Parliament last week.
The bill, drafted through consensus among the parliamentary group deputy chairmen of all the political parties in Parliament, calls for shorter prison terms for individuals convicted of match-fixing, who can currently receive a maximum of 12 years in prison. The bill aimed to reduce the maximum sentence to three years.
The bill was prepared amidst a major match-fixing probe currently under way in Turkey. The investigation concerns allegations that some club officials and footballers rigged games in the Spor Toto Super League (first division) and the Bank Asya League 1 (second division). In July, police raided homes and football club premises, detaining some 60 people suspected of fixing football matches in the two leagues last season. Many high-ranking football officials from various Turkish clubs, including Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş, have been arrested on charges of fraud and match-fixing.