Hundreds of football referees in Turkey found to have bet on football matches in the country are to face disciplinary action.

Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu, president of the Turkish football federation (TFF), said on October 27 that a federation probe discovered that 371 of 571 active referees in Turkey’s professional leagues had betting accounts, with 152 of them actively gambling.

“As a federation, we started by cleaning up our own backyard,” Haciosmanoglu told a press conference in Istanbul, as reported by Reuters. “Among those found to have betting accounts were seven top-level referees, 15 top-level assistants, 36 classified referees, and 94 classified assistants.”

Haciosmanoglu reportedly remarked that some referees had placed a staggering number of bets, with one betting 18,227 times and 42 referees found to have bet on more than 1,000 football matches each. Some referees, however, only bet once, according to local reports.

The findings stem from an examined five-year period.

Referees found guilty of betting on football matches will receive bans ranging from three months to one year from officiating or football-related activities, according to the TFF disciplinary code.

The BBC reported responses to the TFF allegations from some of Turkey's top football clubs. Besiktas said the investigation's findings "could mark a new beginning for clean football". Trabzonspor called the revelations "an historic opportunity to rebuild justice in Turkish football".

"This is both shocking and deeply saddening for Turkish football," Sadettin Saran, president of Fenerbahce, was cited as saying by the British public broadcaster, adding: "But the fact that it is coming to light is a hopeful development."

Turkish football has this year made headlines for lavish spending. In August, a bne IntelliNews article asked, “Has Turkey entered an ‘arms race’ with Saudi Arabia for football prestige?”