fixing probe Tuesday widened to league giant Besiktas, with the arrest of two club officials, Anatolia news agency reported. Besiktas vice president Serdar Adali and technical director Tayfur Havutcu were summoned to appear at Istanbul police headquarters for questioning before being taken into custody. Besiktas, which finished fifth in the Turkish league last season, is one of Istanbul's three big clubs along with Fenerbahce and Galatasaray. Since July 3, Turkish police has arrested more than 80 footballers and club officials as part of a far-reaching match-fixing probe into 19 first division matches, with 26 suspects placed in provisional detention. Among the biggest names taken in are Aziz Yildirim and Sadri Sener, respective presidents of current champions Fenerbahce and Champions League hopefuls Trabzonspor. The latest wave of arrests also included Mehmet Levent Kizil, the former executive committe member of the national football federation, and Ankaragucu goalkeeper Serdar Kulbilge. National football federation head Mehmet Ali Aydinlar insisted Monday, however, that the league would start on Aug. 5 as planned, adding that the federation would not take any disciplinary action against the clubs concerned until the prosecutors' indictment was ready. The federation has until Friday to notify UEFA of which teams will play in European competitions. Zimbabwe official in trouble Former Zimbabwe national football team coach Sunday Chidzambwa and several top players are facing life bans after being named as suspects in a match-fixing scandal, state media said Tuesday. Chidzambwa, a Zimbabwean football legend who captained the national side in its fist post-independence match, was one of several leading football figures named by state daily The Herald in a report on the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) probe on the alleged match-fixing scam. “Zimbabwe's first captain and Warriors' history-making coach Sunday ‘Mhofu' Chidzambwa faces a ban from the game that gave him fame following recommendations by the ZIFA probe to suspend the coaches who took part in all Asian tournaments,” the newspaper said, citing ZIFA's report on the probe.
