Cüneyt Çakır, one of the most famous Turkish referees in Europe, ended his career Thursday, according to the head of the governing body of football in Turkey.
Mehmet Büyükekşi, president of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), thanked 45-year-old Çakır for his contributions to Turkish football during a live broadcast at beIN SPORTS. Büyükekşi said that Çakır, a FIFA referee since 2006, recently applied at Turkey's Central Refereeing Committee (MHK) to leave his job.
"Last week, we held a camp and a seminar with our referees in the northern province of Bolu. In the seminar, Cüneyt Çakır applied to the MHK (to leave his post)," Büyükekşi said. He added that Çakır had several offers abroad but the Turkish referee wanted to end his career in Turkey, as the country has provided him with many opportunities.
Büyükekşi stated that Çakır wants to train referees in lower categories in the future so that he can contribute to Turkish refereeing. The Turkish football body's president added that the MHK, the TFF and its board approved his request.
Çakır has been a Turkish Süper Lig referee from 2001-2022. The Turkish national officiated matches in the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup tournaments and refereed the 2015 UEFA Champions League final when Barcelona beat Juventus 3-1 in Berlin. He was last assigned to referee several matches at the UEFA EURO 2020, which was won by Italy in the summer of 2021. Çakır previously appeared in the EURO 2012 and EURO 2016 tournaments. He has been a regular referee in the Champions League since 2010. He also officiated many matches in the second-tier Europa League.
