Shocking attack on Turkish ref is 'just the tip of the iceberg'

12/12/2023 Soccer

Britain’s referees are subject to even WORSE abuse than those in Turkey, says UK refs’ support group as it warns shocking attack is ‘just the tip of the iceberg’ 

  • Halil Umut Meler was punched in the head by MKE Ankaragucu president 
  • Referees are regularly abused in England, according to Ref Support UK 
  • Have you witnessed abuse of referees? Contact [email protected] 

Violence towards referees is rife – the only difference is the shameful scenes in Turkey were caught on camera.

That is the warning from charity Ref Support UK, who on Tuesday told Mail Sport of examples of abuse which occurred in England at the weekend.

In a statement, they described the incident involving Halil Umut Meler, who was punched by Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca, as the ‘tip of the iceberg’ and added it did ‘not shock us one bit’.

‘We receive reports of similar or worse incidents like this every single week of the season,’ Ref Support UK said. 

‘The only difference here is that there were more cameras capturing this incident.

Referee Halil Umut Meler was punched by MKE Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca after his side conceded a 97th minute equaliser at home on Monday night against Caykur Rizespor

Koca ran onto the pitch and assaulted Meler shortly after the final whistle and knocked the referee to the ground, where he was then kicked as he lay on the turf

The Turkish FA has launched an investigation into the incident and Turkey’s Minister of Internal Affairs said Koca faced arrest and severe punishment 

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‘Referees all over the world have, for far too long, been viewed as fair game no matter what age the referee is. 

‘Just over the past weekend we received reports of child referees being threatened and verbally abused, games being abandoned due to abuse and violence towards match officials at Under-13s.

‘This is the tip of the iceberg. 

‘The desensitisation of ref abuse has been left to fester for far too long and an incidents like this, live on TV, is just around the corner in top-flight football in the UK unless we have a huge change in attitude and culture towards match officials at all levels of the game.

‘We hope the referee makes a full recovery both physically and mentally from this terrible incident and praise the Turkish Football Authorities for their robust and prompt response.’

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

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It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.

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Mail Sport has been campaigning for referees to be treated with the respect they deserve and UEFA’s chief refereeing officer Roberto Rosetti said on Tuesday: ‘We urge the authorities and the responsible disciplinary bodies to take decisive and necessary action against anyone involved in acts of abuse and violence against referees.

‘Such unacceptable and distressing behaviour is detrimental to the efforts of national associations to recruit referees, which are essential for the running of the game.’

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