{"id":1456,"date":"2023-04-28T08:09:55","date_gmt":"2023-04-28T08:09:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afghanistan.factcrescendo.com\/english\/?p=1456"},"modified":"2023-04-28T08:10:01","modified_gmt":"2023-04-28T08:10:01","slug":"old-incident-of-turkish-footballers-sexist-comment-on-a-woman-referee-shared-with-a-misleading-narrative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afghanistan.factcrescendo.com\/english\/old-incident-of-turkish-footballers-sexist-comment-on-a-woman-referee-shared-with-a-misleading-narrative\/","title":{"rendered":"Old Incident Of Turkish Footballer\u2019s Sexist Comment On A Woman Referee Shared With A Misleading Narrative\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A post is going viral on social media claiming Turkish midfielder Karim Demirbay first made a sexist comment on a woman referee and then while refereeing a junior girl\u2019s league football match as a punishment, he abused his power and unfairly issued eight red cards. The post claims that he did not lament on his actions but stood firm with his belief that \u2018women should have no place in a man\u2019s sport\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, when we investigated the incident, we found that some parts of the post are not true. Moreover, the incident is being presented in a way that encourages misogyny and projects Demirbay as an icon of misogyny. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viral Post<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Facebook<\/a><\/td>Archived Link<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the post above, we can see a photo of a female referee confronting a player on a football field. The description of the incident seen in the photo is given as such: \u201cA German female referee gave a Red Card to Turkish player, Karim Demirbay. On his way out, he looked at her and told her \u201cyou should stick to the kitchen\u201d. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The referee wrote that in her report and FIFA ruled that he will be suspended for 5 matches and as a part of his suspension, he will officiate one women football match. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While refereeing the match he issued 8 red cards to 8 different female players.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked why did he did that, he replied: because women should stick to the kitchen!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ob boy, this guy is really stubborn!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The post has received over 2200 shares in the last few days. Many of the users in the comment section hailed him for his actions. Some condemned him too. Few users also commented that the post is misleading and he apologized to the referee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us find out what is the truth of this incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fact Check<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We searched for news reports on this incident by doing a simple keyword search on Google. We found plenty of reports on this incident. From the reports, we understand that the incident took place in 2015 during a Bundesliga 2 match. The player Karim Demirbay was playing for the German Football Club Fortuna D\u00fcsseldorf and scored two goals against FSV Frankfurt before being sent off the pitch after receiving a second yellow card in the match. As per the referee Bibiana Steinhaus\u2019s report, Karim told her \u201cwomen have no place in men\u2019s football\u201d, while walking off the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read full report here \u2013 The Guardian <\/a> | Archived Link<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the reports also mention that Karim regretted his comments and called referee Steinhaus after the match to apologize to her. The post claims that FIFA penalized Demirbay for his comments. However, the Bundesliga and not FIFA fined him, since it was not an international match. As per a report by the Independent<\/a>, Demirbay was fined 10000 Euros and was served a 5-match suspension by his club Fortuna D\u00fcsseldorf. The club also asked him to officiate a match between junior girls\u2019 team of SSVG Haan and BW Langenberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BBC Sports<\/a> also reported that Demirbay has apologized to Steinhaus. The report quotes Demirbay as follows \u201cI am extremely sorry for having said what I did to Ms Steinhaus,\u201d Demirbay said earlier this week. \u201cI should never have said this sentence and it does not reflect my image of women<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, contrary to what has been claimed in the post, there are no reports of Demirbay abusing his power as a referee and issuing Red cards to girls indiscriminately while officiating their match.  There was however some controversy over the choice of his attire for the match. Instead of showing up in regular T-Shirt and shorts attire worn by Football referees, Demirbay was seen wearing a long overcoat and pants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the club Fortuna D\u00fcsseldorf clarified that during junior league matches referees usually wear casual clothes and there was nothing wrong with Demirbay wearing casual clothes as the referee for the match. This clarification was made on their Facebook page when they posted pictures of Demirbay officiating the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Facebook<\/a><\/td>Archived Link<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, if we assume the claim that he abused his power during the match and sent eight girls off the field for his misogynistic view, then the club and even FIFA should ban him forever. As per FIFA\u2019s code of conduct<\/a>, \u201cEveryone has the right to protection from discrimination, harassment, abuse and exploitation \u2013 be it physical, emotional or sexual abuse or exploitation, neglect, bullying or discrimination on account of age, race, skin colour, ethnic, national or social origin, gender, disability, language, religion, political opinion or any other opinion, wealth, inequality, birth or any other status, sexual orientation or any other reason.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FIFA also has provisions for strict action against any individual affiliated to body and engages in or promotes any sort of discrimination. However, he continues to play international football representing Turkey and German Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. Thus, it is unlikely that after apologizing for his initial comments he would do something even more sexist and commit a career suicide. Hence, this part also seems concocted by the misogynists on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From our investigation, it is clear that Turkish footballer Karim Demirbay had made sexist comments on a female referee. However, he apologized later and fairly officiated a girl\u2019s football match as a punishment. The claims of him being non-apologetic and standing on his view that women should \u2018stick to the kitchen\u2019 despite being punished are false.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t