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Argentina v Nigeria (2018 World Cup Group 3rd Game)
Tarık ONGUN, John Obi MIKEL, Björn KUIPERS(FIFA Referee), Cüneyt ÇAKIR Lionel MESSI, Bahattin DURAN

My greatest joys include hiking and jogging in different years now, and have officiated at international matches.
parts of Istanbul, and my favorite running trails are At the beginning of 2010, I teamed up with Cüneyt Çakır
Belgrad Forest, the Blue Mosque–Yenikapı trail, the and Bahattin Duran, and accomplished highly important
Kuruçeşme–Tarabya trail, and the Caddebostan coast. tasks around the globe, including Europe and Turkey,
under Çakır’s leadership. It has been such an honor and
I have been scuba diving since 1997, and I am a qualified joy to be part of this team.
diving instructor. Even though the time I have spent in
the sea has been limited over the last couple of years, In an interview back in 2010 you said that you liked
diving is still one of my favorite sports. setting goals, and that one of your most significant
goals was to be a part of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in
I was also a talented motorcyclist, but have not ridden Brazil. Four years later, you were selected as part of one
for a while now. of the 25 referee teams from 43 different countries,
which made you the first group of assistant referees to
As we have mentioned before football, holds a be selected from Turkey. It fills you with pride. How did
very special place in your life, and you have been a you feel when you first ran out onto the pitch for the
professional Super League referee for a long time. We game? What game was it?
want to get to know you from this point of view as well.
Can you tell us more about this? And another significant Unfortunately, no Turkish Referee had been assigned to
question: why an Assistant Referee? the World Cup since the late Doğan Babacan officiated
at the 1974 World Cup. Forty years later, Cüneyt Çakır
When my refereeing career began in 2001, I worked at and his team joined the 2014 World Cup, which was a
many levels, including Minor League, Amateur League significant success for Turkey and the Turkish refereeing
and Professional League. It was in 2006 that I came community.
out onto the pitch as an Assistant Referee in the Super
League for the first time. Together with Bahattin Duran, we had the privilege of
being the first Turkish assistant referees to officiate at
Before the Super League, I had served both as a referee a World Cup. Our preparation took three years, during
and an assistant referee in the second and third divisions, which we successfully completed many seminars, tests
and considered myself to be a better Assistant Referee, and camps. Out of the 52 candidate teams, we were
and continued my career in this position. included in the final 25, and qualified to officiate in
World Cup games.
After two years in the Super League, I was granted the
title of FIFA Assistant Referee by the Turkish Football Our first game in Brazil was between Brazil and Mexico,
Federation in 2008. I have had a FIFA Cockade for 12 and our final game was the semi final between Argentina
Argentina v Nigeria (2018 World Cup Group 3rd Game)
Lionel MESSI, Bahattin DURAN, Cüneyt ÇAKIR, Tarık ONGUN

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