Until the age of 16, she played in Istanbul for the famous Besiktas. After tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee, she remained on the turf as an umpire. She even waved the flag in the youth matches of the most famous Turkish clubs.
On top of all that, she looked good and immortalized her four-year refereeing career on social networks. Her profile on Instagram was followed by over 300 thousand users. After the October affair broke out, the number of followers increased by another tens of thousands. However, she certainly didn’t care for that kind of interest.
A couple of years old footage of intimate moments with an elderly man has mysteriously made its way onto the internet. According to the media, it was Orhan Erdemir. As a judge at the turn of the millennium, he officiated over a hundred fights in the highest Turkish competition. For several years he was also on the list of FIFA international referees, he also had experience in European cups.
After his career, he became an official and delegate who oversees the successor with whistles and pennants. After the scandal, even the sixty-one-year-old official has to say goodbye to his involvement in football there. The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) banned both of them for life.
Karaarslanová has already announced that she wants to defend herself legally. “I could cry and scream and be sad, but that’s not me. I am one of the many who are being harmed. I have a long legal road ahead of me, but I will overcome it,” she said via social networks. “I look forward to your full support and love in this process.”
Her legal representative has already provided a statement to the media. He argues that the incriminating videos were created and edited by artificial intelligence: “A edited video was published on social networks, created entirely by AI and published from a social media account unrelated to our client. Something like this poses a threat to anyone who might face similar charges in the future.”
However, the defense was disturbed by the first reaction of former judge Erdemir, who, on the other hand, did not dispute the authenticity of the video. He just pointed out that he did not give any permission for the publication of lascivious recordings. And at the same time he admitted that his official career is over.
“My honor in family, society and the refereeing community has suffered. In addition to the financial losses, there is also the indescribable emotional damage that the case has left on me.”
