By Bosphorus News Sports Desk
Turkish sports journalist Burhan Can Terzi was detained after reporting that Galatasaray had agreed to sign Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala, bringing a law designed to punish false information affecting public order into a football transfer dispute.
Police took Terzi into custody on August 10 as part of an investigation by the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Prosecutors later asked a magistrate to impose a travel ban and judicial supervision, but the court rejected the request and released him without restrictions.
The case contains a further dispute over who set the process in motion. Terzi's lawyers say the complaint came from Oktay Ercan, the businessman whom Terzi identified as the original source of the Musiala claim. Ercan has not publicly confirmed that account.
Transfer report leads to detention
Terzi reported in late July that Galatasaray had reached an agreement to sign Musiala, whose Bayern Munich contract runs until June 2030. He repeatedly stood by the report, telling viewers that he was "putting his head on the line" over the transfer.
Galatasaray first issued a brief denial and followed it with a longer statement on July 31. The club called the claim false and accused unnamed individuals and media outlets of misleading supporters and attempting to discredit its transfer operations.
Terzi later apologized to supporters for the expectations created by the report, although he maintained that he had not invented the information. He said several sources had given him matching accounts and named Ercan, a Galatasaray general assembly member and owner of Belgian club KVC Westerlo, as the person from whom the claim originated.
Terzi was questioned on suspicion of publicly disseminating misleading information under Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). His release without judicial supervision did not close the investigation, and authorities have announced neither an indictment nor a decision to dismiss the case.
Terzi names the alleged source chain
In his account to prosecutors, Terzi said a Galatasaray member passed the information to him as a transfer confirmed at the club's presidential level.
He claimed that sports commentator Şansal Büyüka had spoken directly with Ercan and had been told that the deal was complete. The information then reached Terzi through Büyüka's son, who allegedly said Galatasaray President Dursun Özbek had also confirmed it.
Published reports identify Büyüka's son as Hazar.
Terzi also told prosecutors that the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) and beIN Sports carried the Musiala claim as breaking news around the same period. Bosphorus News could not independently confirm the broadcasts or establish how either network presented the information.
Accounts differ over the complainant
Some Turkish outlets reported that Galatasaray filed the complaint. Halk TV said the club was not a complainant and attributed the investigation to applications submitted by supporters after Terzi continued to defend his reporting.
Medyascope subsequently cited Terzi's lawyers as identifying Ercan as the complainant. Terzi has publicly challenged him to say whether he told Büyüka that the transfer had been completed.
Galatasaray's statements denied the Musiala report but did not claim responsibility for a criminal complaint. Neither the club nor Ercan has publicly settled the conflicting accounts.
If Terzi's lawyers are correct, Ercan occupies two opposing positions in the case: the complainant who prompted the investigation and, in Terzi's account, the source from whom the transfer story began. That claim has not been independently verified.
Disinformation law enters football reporting
TCK Article 217/A does not make every inaccurate statement a criminal offense. It applies to false information concerning Türkiye's internal or external security, public order or public health, disseminated in a manner capable of disturbing public peace and solely to cause anxiety, fear or panic.
The offense carries a prison sentence of between one and three years. A prosecution based on the Musiala report would therefore have to go well beyond proving that the transfer claim was false. It would also have to establish its connection to public order, its capacity to disturb public peace and Terzi's specific intent to create anxiety, fear or panic.
No public explanation has yet shown how a football transfer report would meet those conditions. The magistrate did not rule on that question when releasing Terzi, but declined to restrict his movement while the investigation continues.
Türkiye's Constitutional Court upheld Article 217/A in 2024, concluding that the subject matter, intent and public-peace requirements placed limits on its use. Critics of the statute have argued that journalists can still face detention and investigation before a court considers whether those requirements are present.
The case has since reached football media in several European countries. Some reports described Terzi as having been arrested rather than detained, while others stated as fact that Galatasaray filed the complaint despite the conflicting accounts in Türkiye.
Galatasaray has formally denied the transfer claim, which remains unsubstantiated. The legal issue is whether reporting it can fall within a criminal provision covering false information about security, public order or public health.
Sources: Galatasaray, Bayern Munich, Medyascope, Halk TV, Odatv, Bianet, T24, Constitutional Court of Türkiye, Bosphorus News review and reporting.