Turkish journalist detained by police for spreading false football transfer information

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FT Desk

A journalist in Turkey was detained by police for allegedly spreading misinformation online about a transfer involving Jamal Musiala.

According to Turkish outlet Haberler, Burhan Can Terzi was held by order of the Bakırkoy chief public prosecutor’s office on charges of “publicly disseminating misleading information”.

He has previously said online that Galatasaray were close to agreeing the blockbuster acquisition of Musiala from Bayern Munich.

The club later denied this, saying in a statement: “Recently, the need to inform the public about our club has been deliberately circulated and does not reflect the truth.

📍 Galatasaray, Musiala ile büyük ölçüde anlaştı.#Probably @sporontv @sportcelltr

— Burhan Can Terzi (@burhancanterzii) July 26, 2026

“The allegations that professional football player Jamal Musiala will transfer to Galatasaray are untrue.

“Keeping these allegations, which are clearly unreal, on the agenda; it is an effort to create a perception aimed at misleading the public and discrediting the transfer efforts of our club.

“It is noteworthy that the people and media who own these speculations came to the public with similar unreal claims last season.

“Galatasaray carry out transfer activities with great meticulousness and confidentiality in line with the interests of our club.

“Unreal news and speculative claims will not change the working principles and goals of our club.

“We kindly request that the public and the great Galatasaray fans take only the official statements of our club as a basis, not to respect the news and speculations that do not reflect the truth, the people and media that persistently put them into circulation.”

Terzi was reportedly held by authorities for a couple of hours before being released, with no further action set to be taken.

He defended his assessment of the rumour to NTV, saying what he reported was based on the information available to him at the time.

“Simultaneously, Musiala would attend the camp next week from different sources," he added.

“I’m not in the mood to get up in the morning to make it up or see it in my dreams at night.”

Terzi has over 182k followers on X and it was there that he initially posted the rumour. His arrest marked the first time in the history of Turkish football that a journalist was detained on allegations of spreading misinformation.

He has a history with Galatasaray, too, as in 2025 he claimed club president Dursun Ozbek would not have won the 2022 election against Esref Hamamcioglu without the support of controversial former director Erden Timur.

Timur was arrested in December amid a major investigation into alleged betting and match-fixing in Turkish football. He spent around six months in pre-trial detention before being released under judicial supervision in June, with the investigation still ongoing.

As of now, Musiala remains a Bayern player.