Victory of Dinçdağ who was ostracized from profession because he is gay

19th hearing of the lawsuit that Dinçdağ opened against Turkish Football Federation held yesterday. The court gave a ruling that requires the federation to pay 23.000 liras to Dinçdağ. 

Dinçdağ had claimed 110.000 liras compensation. His lawyer Fırat Söyle stated that they will appeal for correction.

Speaking to Burcu Karakaş, Dinçdağ said, “It was really important to win this lawsuit. My rightful struggle is approved by the court now. I hope that this will become a precedent case. This is a victory, but we will appeal for correction anyway.”

What happened?

In 2007, Dinçdağ received a report showing that he is ineligible for military service because he is homosexual. In 2009, he sent this report to Trabzon Referee Committee. The Committee sent this report to TFF.

According to article 25 of the byelaw of TFF, the people who cannot serve for the military due to health conditions cannot be a referee. So, the reporter of the Central Referee Committee Osman Avcı requested that the committee should consider this article. After that, Trabzon Referee Committee didn’t allow Dinçdağ to enter the referee exams and destroyed his chance to be a referee.