Turkish referee speaks for first time after being pictured in brace at hospital
Turkish soccer referee Halil Umut Meler has spoken for the primary time since he was attacked by a group’s president on Monday.
The 37-year-old whistler, who was hospitalised for 3 days, was sucker punched by Ankaragucu’s president Faruk Koca after their match with Caykur Rizespor. Meler had brandished a purple card for each side, earlier than Rizespor discovered a late equaliser within the seventh minute of added time.
Koca stormed the pitch after the ultimate whistle, punching the official, sparking chaotic scenes, with gamers and officers becoming a member of the melee or attempting to intervene. And Meler has now spoken out concerning the incident.
READ MORE: Ref battered on pitch by membership president pictured in hospital with neck brace after assault
READ MORE: Turkish membership chairman who hospitalised referee with on-pitch punch quits soccer
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According to Spor Arena, he mentioned: “There is no problem with my health… They called me from UEFA. I will explain these issues later. There is no situation at the moment, everything is possible. I just want to go home and rest.”
Meler was snapped on his means out of hospital sporting a black eye, however with out his neck brace. Ankara hospital’s chief doctor mentioned of the referee: “He is in good spirits. He will have controls wherever he goes [next]. He has no problem except for a small swelling under his eye.
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(Image: Anadolu through Getty Images)
“We put on a neck brace for precautionary purposes. The [cheek] fracture will heal in time, it was a small fracture anyway. There is no more bleeding.”
Koca, who punched Meler, has resigned from his place as president of the membership “in order to prevent any further harm to the Ankaragucu club, Ankaragucu fans, the community I am in and my family.”
He added: “I hope that this incident, which I, greater than anybody else, can not settle for, might be a purpose for our sports activities life, particularly our soccer neighborhood, to be purified from errors, shortcomings and the tradition of violence.”
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned the assault, whereas the Turkish Football Federation has halted all home soccer indefinitely.