The decision to suspend football club Miracle Degirmenlik from the Cyprus Turkish Football Association (CTFA) will be made permanent on Monday, association Hasan Sertoglu said on Friday.
Speaking at the draw for the Turkish Cypriot cup quarter finals, he said the decision would be made when the CTFA’s board of directors meets on Monday, and that club chairman Hakan Torehan and other club board members will be referred to the CTFA’s disciplinary board.
He added that the decision to suspend the club’s membership was made “completely independently” of the allegations of match fixing which have plagued the club since a match with Ayios Amvrosios-based side Esentepe was cancelled at the start of the month.
Instead, he said, the sole reason behind the club’s suspension was a letter sent to the CTFA by the Turkish Cypriot Nicosia ‘district office’ announcing that the club would be inspected over potential lawbreaking on the part of its administration.
He added that the CTFA has now sent a letter back to the ‘district office’ requesting more information on Torehan’s role, and that the CTFA has been informed that Torehan “did not meet the conditions” to act as club chairman.
On the planned next steps, he said the ‘district office’ will now conduct an investigation into the club and submit their findings to the CTFA, which will appoint three administrators to run the club.
The CTFA announced the suspension of Miracle Degirmenlik’s membership on Wednesday, saying the initial letter sent by the ‘district office’ contained “serious” allegations which related to “continuous violations” of the law.
Newspaper Yeni Duzen reported that the ‘district office’ had objected to the composition of the club’s administration based as it “did not hold meetings in accordance with the law”, and because club chairman Hakan Torehan “was previously convicted of a disgraceful crime and therefore could not be chairman”.
The “disgraceful crime” in question saw Torehan, who was born in London, sentenced to a year in prison in 2019 after a court found that he had written the code for an illegal virtual betting operation.
The club’s suspension from the CTFA is the latest episode in a turbulent relationship between crypto firm Miracle Cash & More and Turkish Cypriot football, which has seen the club win three promotions, sue the CTFA, and have its records expunged.
The company, meanwhile, bought and then lost television rights for Turkish Cypriot football and was accused of being a “pyramid scheme”.
