Soccer-Referee says he won't forgive Turkish club chief for attack


FILE PHOTO Turkish referee Halil Umut Meler leaves from a hospital in Ankara Turkey December 13 2023. REUTERSCagla GurdoganFile Photo

FILE PHOTO: Turkish referee Halil Umut Meler leaves from a hospital in Ankara, Turkey December 13, 2023. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan/File Photo

(Reuters) - Referee Halil Umut Meler said he will not forgive Turkish club Ankaragucu's president Faruk Koca for punching him in the face at the end of a Super Lig match last week.

The Turkish Football Federation's (TFF) disciplinary board imposed a permanent ban on Koca, who entered the field and hit Meler when the final whistle blew after Rizespor scored a 97th-minute equaliser at Ankaragucu's Eryaman Stadium.

Meler was then kicked in the head as he lay on the pitch.

Koca was arrested a day after the incident, with Meler telling police that the official had threatened to kill him.

"No, I did not forgive (Koca), I will not forgive," Meler told Turkish news daily Hurriyet.

"The person who did this punched me, I collapsed and fell to the ground. But the actual kicking while I was on the ground will be something I will never forget for the rest of my life.

"That's why, in conscience, I will never forgive. I will not forgive in any way, I will never forgive those who did it or those who provoked it."

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Turkey's top soccer league resumed play on Tuesday following a one-week suspension.

($1 = 29.1254 liras)

(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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