Reinstate Halil İbrahim Dinçdağs as a referee in Turkey!
Das Anliegen
Reinstate Halil İbrahim Dinçdağs as a referee in Turkey!
At the beginning of April, the Turkish referee Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ visited Berlin and Leipzig in order to tell his story and recount his experiences. Dinçdağ is a referee and a good one. Anyone who watched him reffing the friendly matches between Tennis Borussia Berlin and Türkiyemspor, as well as with Roten Stern Leipzig could see that. His calm, relaxed manner and his expertise, meant his career as a referee lead him as high as the Turkish second division. Since 2008 though he has not been allowed to referee a single match held by the Turkish FA. In fact he is suspended. The official reason given was that he had not done national service, something that is required of referees in Turkey once they are of a certain age. In fact though Dinçdağ had begun his miltary service in the Autumn of 2008. He was however discharged from the Military Medical Academy, due to, as it says on record, „a pyschosexual disorder“. In other words because he is homosexual.
In the Court for Civil Rights in Istanbul, on Tuesday 22nd, a verdict was expected on a case brought by Dinçdağ against the Turkish Football Association. Following their suspension of him, and his homosexuality being so heavily publicised as a result, he had also lost his job as a radio presenter, and has been without work ever since. Indeed, he had faced further discrimination and repression after he was effectively „outed“ against his will. And all he wished for was that he could referee matches run by the Turkish Football Association. Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ simply wants to be a ref once more. Watched by visitors who had travelled from Leipzig (Roten Stern Leipzig '99 e.V.) and from Berlin (Tennis Borussia Berlin e.V.), the verdict was postponed. The worst part was that the Turkish FA claimed during the process, that Halil hadn't refereed for them between the years 2001- 2008, and so therefore was not eligble for compensation! The next verdict date is at the court of civil rights on the 15.07.2014 in Istanbul.
„In football, you are not treated as an equal, if you are gay“ - thats what Dinçdağ told TV reporters recently in an interview conducted in Berlin. Even though most people would sadly tend to suspect he is right, we are not prepared to accept this situation. The true magic of the game, is that football draws different people together. If people, whether as a player, fan or referee are going to be excluded from the game due to their sexuality, then this is a problem, and it is a problem we need to tackle.
We therefore call for:
- Compensation, and the right to once again referee matches, for our friend Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ!
- The immediate end to discrimination towards people who do not fit in with the heterosexual „norm“– in football and in society in general, in Turkey and everywhere else!
- Not a yard of space on the pitch or a place on the terrace for homophia!
Petition geschlossen.
Das Anliegen
Reinstate Halil İbrahim Dinçdağs as a referee in Turkey!
At the beginning of April, the Turkish referee Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ visited Berlin and Leipzig in order to tell his story and recount his experiences. Dinçdağ is a referee and a good one. Anyone who watched him reffing the friendly matches between Tennis Borussia Berlin and Türkiyemspor, as well as with Roten Stern Leipzig could see that. His calm, relaxed manner and his expertise, meant his career as a referee lead him as high as the Turkish second division. Since 2008 though he has not been allowed to referee a single match held by the Turkish FA. In fact he is suspended. The official reason given was that he had not done national service, something that is required of referees in Turkey once they are of a certain age. In fact though Dinçdağ had begun his miltary service in the Autumn of 2008. He was however discharged from the Military Medical Academy, due to, as it says on record, „a pyschosexual disorder“. In other words because he is homosexual.
In the Court for Civil Rights in Istanbul, on Tuesday 22nd, a verdict was expected on a case brought by Dinçdağ against the Turkish Football Association. Following their suspension of him, and his homosexuality being so heavily publicised as a result, he had also lost his job as a radio presenter, and has been without work ever since. Indeed, he had faced further discrimination and repression after he was effectively „outed“ against his will. And all he wished for was that he could referee matches run by the Turkish Football Association. Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ simply wants to be a ref once more. Watched by visitors who had travelled from Leipzig (Roten Stern Leipzig '99 e.V.) and from Berlin (Tennis Borussia Berlin e.V.), the verdict was postponed. The worst part was that the Turkish FA claimed during the process, that Halil hadn't refereed for them between the years 2001- 2008, and so therefore was not eligble for compensation! The next verdict date is at the court of civil rights on the 15.07.2014 in Istanbul.
„In football, you are not treated as an equal, if you are gay“ - thats what Dinçdağ told TV reporters recently in an interview conducted in Berlin. Even though most people would sadly tend to suspect he is right, we are not prepared to accept this situation. The true magic of the game, is that football draws different people together. If people, whether as a player, fan or referee are going to be excluded from the game due to their sexuality, then this is a problem, and it is a problem we need to tackle.
We therefore call for:
- Compensation, and the right to once again referee matches, for our friend Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ!
- The immediate end to discrimination towards people who do not fit in with the heterosexual „norm“– in football and in society in general, in Turkey and everywhere else!
- Not a yard of space on the pitch or a place on the terrace for homophia!
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Petition am 3. Juli 2014 erstellt