Ferhat Gündoğdu repeated his statement at the police station in his defense in court. Making his defense regarding the voice recording containing threats against referee Kerem Ersoy, Gündoğdu said, "I learned that our assistant referee friend named Kerem Ersoy had spoken bad words to his friends about the TFF and MHK management several times. I also told this to his father, a former referee. I could have made him end his refereeship within my authority at that time, but I did not do this." he said.
"I called him and spoke as his brother and gave him advice." Using his statements, Ferhat Gündoğdu claimed that he did not threaten Ersoy and that he was innocent.
Gündoğdu, who also claimed that there was no abuse of power, said, "The WhatsApp messages shown are messages related to my duty as the Chairman of the MHK. They are conversations in accordance with the instructions." He defended himself by saying.
Gündoğdu also made a defense regarding the records on his phone, claiming that he "was not even aware of it".
Other suspects also claimed their innocence and denied the charges.
In his statement at the police station, Gündoğdu admitted that he called some referees before the match, and argued that the classification changes were made with the will of the TFF.
In his 51-page statement, MHK President denied all the allegations and said that no one was being mobbed. Güngoğdu argued that the final list, including match performances, observer reports, physical and psychological tests, was sent to the TFF management and went through the TFF processes, regarding the allegations that there were different evaluations about the referees.
Gündoğdu, who admitted that he called some referees before the match, claimed that this was to give morale before the match and to get information about any improvement.
Gündoğdu, who defended himself regarding a voice recording stated to belong to his meeting with FIFA assistant referee Kerem Ersoy, claimed that he may have spoken harsh words to the referees in anger from time to time, but he did not impose arbitrary punishments.
Regarding the allegations that the exam questions were given to some referees in advance, Gündoğdu said that he did not personally witness these events and that the exam processes were carried out by the education unit.
MASAK REPORTS ARE ALSO ON FILE
Gündoğdu was also asked about transactions worth 294 million 116 thousand 419 TL in 5 thousand 773 money outflow transactions and 258 million 289 thousand 170 TL in 3,620 money inflow transactions in his accounts, according to MASAK reports between 2007 and 2026. Gündoğdu claimed that these resulted from salaries, retirement bonuses, OYAK, TFF fees, vehicle/house/land purchases and sales and other official transactions. He also stated that the exit volume of 294 million TL was high compared to his income and that he thought there might be an error in the data.
The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office accused the suspects of excluding some referees from the classification without providing an objective and reasoned decision. Practices such as not giving assignments, treating some referees with privilege, and interfering with the scoring and appointment processes were among the accusations made against the suspects.
Complainant and witness statements, expert reports, HTS and MASAK records were also included in the investigation file.
The investigation also included remarkable details. It was claimed that in the rules exam held in Riva in 2025, the exam questions and grading process were intervened and some exam results were changed and the documents were forged. According to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, he gave the exam questions of MHK's former deputy president Ahmet Şahin to people close to the Turkish Active Football Referees and Observers Association and acted together with MHK President Gündoğdu in this matter. It was noted that an investigation was carried out against Yıldırım within the scope of mobbing and unlawful seizure of personal data, and against Ferdi Karadoruk, the President of the Observers Association Istanbul Branch, within the scope of mobbing, obscenity and abuse of trust crimes.
Investigations on Karadoruk's mobile phone revealed that a WhatsApp group named "Young team" was established and in this group, Karadoruk asked some people to call, ask for their location and to be at Küplüce Cemetery at a certain time, and then "Give me the results report." and “What is the total number now?” It was claimed that he sent the messages.
It was also found that there were conversations about referees in the WhatsApp correspondence between Karadoruk and former MHK Deputy Chairman Ahmet Şahin. In another WhatsApp conversation, it was seen that the list prepared with the title "Our Promotion Candidate Study for Classes" was shared.
