Attacked on the field by the president of a top Turkish football team, referee Halil Umut Meler desperately tried to cover his head to shield himself from the kicks of angry fans. Monday's shocking scene at the end of a Turkish league game was an example of the violence and abuse directed toward officials that, it was claimed on Wednesday, have included incidents as extreme as car bombs. Meler was hospitalized after being punched by MKE Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca at the end of a 1-1 draw with Caykur Rizespor. He fell to the ground and was also kicked in a melee when fans invaded the pitch after Rizespor scored a last-minute equalizer. Meler was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday. Koca and two other people have been placed under pre-trial detention, facing charges of causing injury to a public official. The Turkish Football Federation suspended all league games in response.
“It’s a responsibility for all those who love the ‘beautiful game’ to take action and do something. Before it’s too late, before this cancer will kill football,” Pierluigi Collina, chairman of FIFA’s Referees Committee, said Wednesday. “A referee cannot be beaten because of a decision they took, even if it’s wrong. His or her car cannot be bombed or set on fire because of a penalty kick," Collina said in a statement that did not provide examples. "Unfortunately, this is not an exaggeration, as car bombs and cars being set on fire is something that has happened in some countries, and not so rarely. The image of Halil Umut lying on the ground, with his hands protecting his head while he was kicked by his assaulters, as well as the image of the bruise under his eye, are horrific,” Collina said. “But even more horrific is to know that there are thousands of referees around the world who are verbally and physically abused at lower levels of the game across the world, without being reported by media.”
In recent times there have been a number of high profile incidents involving attacks or threats made toward officials in football. In Brazil, the president of fourth-division club Sergipe was suspended after he came onto the pitch and punched a referee in March. Last month, an official with Brazilian club Corinthians tried to break into the VAR room after one of the team's players was sent off. English referee Anthony Taylor and his family had to be escorted away by security at an airport in Hungary after Roma fans targeted him and threw a chair in his direction after the Europa League final in May. More extreme incidents include the gun-toting owner of Greek team PAOK Thessaloniki marching onto the field following a disputed goal in 2018. And a weekend football player was sentenced to at least eight years in prison in 2015 in the United States for a punch that killed a referee.
Source: Yahoo Sports