The president of the Istanbul football and basketball club Fenerbahce, Sadettin Saran, was arrested this Wednesday on charges of drug use, reports the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.

The Turkish authorities began investigating Saran last week as part of a broad operation into alleged drug use, in which dozens of artists, social media personalities, journalists, and businesspeople have been arrested or summoned for questioning. Hair samples were taken from numerous people under investigation for drug testing, and Saran's sample came back positive, the Turkish news agency Anadolu reported on Wednesday. State media outlets have not specified what type of drug it is, but the opposition newspaper Sozcu claims the test was positive for cocaine. Saran has categorically denied using cocaine and announced that she will repeat the tests at a private laboratory. "I have never in my life used the substance they say tested positive for in the forensic lab. Not only have I not used it, I haven't even seen it up close," Saran wrote in a statement on social media. "These assertions are a smear campaign." "Slanderous accusations against me, which aim to destroy the institutions I represent," the businessman asserted. Saran, a successful 61-year-old businessman with Turkish and American citizenship, owns Saran Holding, which encompasses sports media, the film industry, and tourism. He became president of Fenerbahce, the second most successful football club in Turkey, last September in a close vote against his predecessor, businessman Ali Koc.