Cuneyt Cakir will referee the Intercontinental derby between Galatasaray & Fenerbahce

Cüneyt Çakır

Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir will referee the Intercontinental derby between Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe

Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir will referee the Intercontinental derby between Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe.

Çakır became the first Turkish referee in 40 years to officiate at a World Cup this summer, following in the footsteps of Doğan Babacan who was assigned to officiate the 1974 World Cup.

The 37-year-old has a reputation for being liberal with the red card, he dismissed Steven Gerrard in a World Cup qualifier against Ukraine in 2012, Gary Cahill was sent off in the same year at the World Club Cup Final and Terry was shown a red card against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final.

Despite criticism for being a little too card-happy the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) named Çakır the fifth best referee in the world.

Experts from 70 countries and every continent took part in the 2013 annual election for the World’s Best Referee.

Çakır is the most experienced Turkish referee at International and European level.

The Turkish referee averages 4.1 yellow cards per game, 0.2 red cards per game and 0.28 penalties per game.

RANKING 2013

1. Howard WEBB (England): 102 points
2. Nicola RIZZOLI (Italy): 82 points
3. Viktor KASSAI (Hungary): 53 points
4. Felix BRYCH (Germany): 42 points
5.Cüneyt CAKIR (Turkey): 40 points