Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ (born 1976) is a Turkish professional athlete who was suspended because of his sexuality. Dinçdağ had been a football referee in

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the B ...

for 13 years in 2009 when he was informed that his referee's license would not be renewed. Two days after he made an appeal against this decision, articles claiming he was

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

appeared in the press. He was promptly sacked from his position at a local radio station, and he went to

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

to avoid intrusions into his personal life by reporters. On 30 December 2015 the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) was fined

₺ The lira ( tr, Türk lirası; sign: ₺; ISO 4217 code: TRY; abbreviation: TL) is the official currency of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. One lira is divided into one hundred ''kuruş''. History Ottoman lira (1844–1923) The lira, along with ...

23,000 in compensation after Dinçdağ won a discrimination case against them.

References

1976 births Gay sportsmen Turkish LGBT rights activists Living people Turkish football referees Turkish LGBT sportspeople {{LGBT-bio-stub