Poland and Austria will play their second Euro 2024 Group D match at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on Friday.
Turkish referee Halil Umut Meler will be the referee for this clash. He has been a FIFA-listed official since 2017 and a member of the UEFA Elite since 2022.
On September 18, 2015, Meler refereed in his first match in a top-flight league, a 2015–16 Super Lig encounter between İstanbul Basaksehir and Akhisar Belediyespor match which ended 2–0.
Meler has also overseen the finals of the 2018 UEFA European Under-17 Championship between Italy and Netherlands in which the Netherlands won 4–1 on penalties, and the 2019 Turkish Super Cup, in which Besiktas won 4–2 in penalties against Antalyaspor.
On 11 December 2023, after officiating in the Süper Lig match between MKE Ankaragücü and Çaykur Rizespor Süper Lig match which ended 1–1, Meler was attacked by MKE Ankaragücü president Faruk Koca, also being kicked by two other men while on the ground. After the medical attention, Meler and his assistants were taken to the dressing room accompanied by police teams.[18] Meler was taken out of the stadium, accompanied by security forces and was taken to hospital by ambulance.
Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya visited Meler in the hospital and received a telephone call from Turkey’s President Erdogan.
The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) convened an emergency meeting after the incident; the Süper Lig was subsequently indefinitely suspended.
A day after the incident, Koca apologized to Meler and his family in a press statement in which he also announced his resignation as the Ankaragücü club president.
He was discharged from the hospital on the morning of 13 December 2023. On January 14, 2024, it was announced that he would continue refereeing with him being determined as the main referee for the Konyaspor–İstanbulspor 2023-24 Super Lig match the same day.
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