Turkish footballer Kerem Demirbay referees girls' football match after sexist comments... wearing designer clothes

Fortuna Dusseldorf midfielder arrived for the youth match wearing clothes you'd expect to see at a fashion show rather than a football pitch

(Facebook/Fortuna Dusseldorf)

After making sexist comments about women playing and working in football, the last thing you should do to try and make up for your error is referee a girls match while wearing designer clothing, but Turkish footballer Kerem Demirbay did exactly that.

The Fortuna Dusseldorf midfielder has been hit with a five-match Bundesliga 2 ban after he took to Facebook to claim women had no place in the sport, having been sent-off by female referee Bibiana Steinhaus during the 2-1 win at FSV Frankfurt.

The 22-year-old had an eventful afternoon, having scored both of Fortuna’s goals before receiving his marching orders, and he took to social media to criticise Steinhaus in a post he later deleted.

As well as the five-match ban – two of which are suspended pending any further discrepancies – Demirbay was fined 10,000 euros by Fortuna and told that he must referee a girls’ football match between SSVg Haan and BW Langenberg. He added a second post on Facebook that read: “This is what happens at Dusseldorf when a young player makes a mistake. I should never have said it and this does not reflect my view of women.”

However, Demirbay’s punishment only proved to be a second PR disaster for the footballer, who has been labelled a “sexist” and “misogynist” by football fans.

The Turkey Under-21 international arrived for the match kitted out in designer clothing, and actually officiated the match wearing a large coat, scarf and skinny jeans along with ankle-high boots.

Had he wanted to avoid yet another controversy, Demirbay should have taken the occasion seriously and worn sportswear given he was need to run around and keep up with play, and he could certainly have done with the match fitness given he’ll be sitting out the next three matches for Fortuna.

The club defended Demirbay’s actions and said in a Facebook post that the gesture not only shows that his intentions were in the right place, but also signals his full apology to Steinhaus. They added that “he made a mistake, regretted it and would like to make up for it.”