Detention of football officials in Türkiye, dismissal of the Costa Rican coach, and organizational errors in Asia

Turkish Justice Minister Akan Gorlik said today (Tuesday) that Turkey has detained the head of the main referees’ committee and six of its members on charges of interfering in arbitration procedures, describing the move as the latest in the framework of “the fight for clean football.”

Gorlek added on the “X” platform that the authorities investigated allegations related to the classification of referees, the distribution of their tasks, evaluation and appointment mechanisms, and tests of arbitration laws.

The detention of Ferhat Gundogdu, Chairman of the Central Referees Committee of the Turkish Football Federation, was confirmed. “We will resolutely continue our fight for clean football to shed light on the allegations that undermine confidence in Turkish football,” Gorlek said.

He pledged to ensure that those responsible are held accountable, to ensure that football is linked to the effort, competition and sportsmanship that appears on the field.

Gundogdu's representatives, through the referees' committee, did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment.

The minister added that investigators listened to the statements of complainants and witnesses, requested expert reports, and examined communications records and financial data from the Turkish Financial Crimes Investigation Authority.

The Costa Rican Football Federation announced on Monday the dismissal of the Argentine coach of his country's national team, Fernando (Bucha) Batista, after a disastrous start in the CONCACAF Nations League competition.

Batista and his coaching staff were dismissed after only 6 months of assuming the position, following losses to Curacao and Haiti in the first two rounds of the tournament, and he will be temporarily succeeded by former international Brian Royce.

Costa Rica reached the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup, after qualifying from a group that included Italy, England and Uruguay, but it has witnessed a decline in recent years.

The Central American country's national team failed to advance beyond the group stage in the next two editions of the World Cup, and also failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

Costa Rica lost at home to Curacao 3-4 last Thursday despite leading 3-0 at the end of the first half, and 3 days later, it lost to Haiti 0-2.

South Korea fell victim to another transportation error during the Asian Games in Japan, after the bus carrying its men's volleyball team headed to a stadium a full hour away from its intended destination.

The Games in Aichi-Nagoya were hit by a series of organizational problems; The most notable of these are related to accommodation and transportation for more than 17,000 athletes and officials. South Korean volleyball players were forced to cancel their training on Monday morning, ahead of their group match against Taiwan later the same day, following this latest logistical problem.

An official from the Korean Volleyball Association told Agence France-Presse on Tuesday: “A shuttle bus provided by the organizers transported our team yesterday morning to Okazaki instead of its training ground in Inuyama.” He added: “With too much time to return, the training was cancelled.” The official continued: “We filed an official complaint with the organizers through the South Korean Olympic Committee.”

The volleyball team continued its journey, defeating Taiwan 3-1. The South Korean men's basketball team was forced to miss training, before its final against Japan last week, after its bus did not arrive at all. This misstep did not affect their results; They continued their journey and won the title.

Also on Monday, the Pakistan men's volleyball team was mistakenly moved to the wrong court for its match against Uzbekistan, leading to the match being postponed by 45 minutes. Pakistan captain Murad Jehan said from inside the bus in a video clip on Instagram: “This is another mismanagement by Japan in the ongoing Asian Games.”

For her part, a spokeswoman for the organizing committee, Ayumi Sakamoto, said that the Pakistani and South Korean teams left from the same place of residence, and that “an error occurred in matching the teams to the vehicles.” She added: “Each team got on a bus heading to the wrong destination. We sincerely apologize to both teams for this inconvenience.” She explained: “We caused great inconvenience, and the organizing committee takes this matter seriously.” She continued: “It is essential, but we will once again be careful to properly verify the teams boarding the buses and the destinations.”