Referee Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ sued the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) because he was not being appointed as referee afer the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) had issued a report regarding his exemption from military service because of homosexuality. The first hearing of the case was now held at the Sarıyer (Istanbul) 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance.

The trial was opened on the grounds that Dinçdağ's sexual orientation had been publicly announced. The TFF sent a written reply to court for the first hearing.

The federation put forward to their defence that Dinçdağ was not being appointed as referee any more for legal reasons.

"The TFF Central Referee Committee (MHK) and the committees appointed to this authority are operating entirely objective regardless of differences such as religion, language, race or gender when they announce and appoint the referee staff during their tenure", the response read.

"It was confirmed that Article 25 of the Interior Directive on Rules, Principles and Methods regarding Referee Entry Positions, Classification and Renewal of Visa had to be applied, ordering that 'Persons who have been exempt from military service because of health reasons may not be appointed as referees'. Interpreting this provision, the MHK decided that the complainant could not abide by the task competition".

The TFF furthermore said that they did not inform the media about Dinçdağ's homosexuality.

"My life is upside down"

Dinçdağ lost his job as a radio presenter and his work as a referee after the incident had made the news. All his applications for a new job have been rejected since then, he said.

Complainant Dinçdağ put forward that the incident pushed him towards social isolation. He said that many people in his environment were avoiding him now and added, "I hope everything is going to be alright". (EKN/EÜ/VK)