Bawer Çakır

In the end, football is not only football!

Source: İpek İzci, “Neticede futbol sadece futbol değil!” (“In the end, football is not only football!”) Radikal, 28 December 2013, http://kitap.radikal.com.tr/Makale/neticede-futbol-sadece-futbol-degil-389256

The book When Manhood Falls Offside is the story of Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ who lost his job as a referee because of his homosexual identity.

At the beginning of 2009, Trabzon District Referee Board asked me to provide certification regarding my mandatory military service requirement. The phrase “received a report for unfit to serve in the military” was written in my letter. I submitted the letter to the federation and continued my job as a referee for the next two months.  One day when I was getting ready to go to practice, I received a phone call from the person who is responsible for referee reassignments. He said, “Halil İbrahim, because you did not complete your military service, you cannot work as a referee.”

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