Player arrested
Worst suspicion: Was the Stuttgart game manipulated?
December 10, 2025 – 6:49 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The betting scandal in Turkey is spreading further. Now the game between VfB Stuttgart and Fenerbahçe is also coming into the focus of investigators. In focus: A player.
According to the Turkish newspaper “Sabah”, Fenerbahçe professional Mert Hakan Yandaş is said to have transferred large amounts of money to a friend. He therefore placed targeted bets on his teammate İsmail Yüksek – for example on yellow cards or a certain number of fouls.
Now explosive: According to the report, such a bet was also made in the duel with VfB – with success. Yüksek was supposed to receive a warning, which initially didn’t happen. It wasn’t until injury time, in the 90th + 8th minute, that a heated argument broke out with Stuttgart’s Deniz Undav. Both saw yellow.
“Sabah” writes: “The fact that Yüksek, who had only committed two fouls in this game, received a card seconds before the referee’s final whistle after an argument with an opponent aroused suspicion.” Yandaş is now in custody, along with around 35 other players, referees and officials. In total, more than 1,000 players have already been suspended.
When asked by “Bild” about the topic, Undav himself was reserved: “It was simply a heated game in which a pack formed shortly before the end. Even if he hadn’t done anything, he would have received a yellow card because of the pack formation,” Undav replied to the tabloid. “That’s why I don’t think he did it specifically. But I don’t know.”
The VfB striker added: Players in Germany are being prepared for requests for manipulation. “We have training every year. That we always have to report directly if we are blackmailed or a call comes. We are trained in that.”