Kicks and punches to the referee at the end of the match, now the former president of Ankaragucu risks prison

The public prosecutor he asked for 13 years in prison for the president of the Turkish team Ankaragucu, Faruk Koca, who punched international referee Halil Umit Meler last December 11th. The images of the aggression on the pitch at the end of the match against Rizespor, which ended 1-1 after a controversial penalty awarded to the guests at the end, went around the world.

Koca has already been banned for life a few days after the episode and the club was punished with a fine of 65 thousand euros and with five matches played behind closed doors. The former president of the capital team is now on trial before ordinary justice and must also answer for the threats made to Meler, a “I’ll kill you” repeated several times, and the kicks thrown together with three other people when the match director was already on the ground.

From 2002 to 2011 Koca held the position of parliamentarian on the lists of the AKP, the party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was prime minister at the time. The same Erdogan had condemned the episode without half measures and the party had expelled Koca, who remained a member despite not having held office for more than ten years.