Player Charged With Attempted Manslaughter For Face Kick

In the past, we've covered violence in football. Take, for instance, this planned brawl between hooligans in Russia which takes place before every Spartak v. Dynamo match. Or this instance when Saliou Ciss transformed into the Incredible Hulk after being sent off. These incidents pale in comparison, however, to the video below of an amateur soccer player from Turkey who is being charged with attempted manslaughter after performing a brutal face kick to an opponent – an opponent who, at the time, was lying helpless on the ground after being fouled by the same player, Mehmet Değirmenci.

Warning: The footage below is graphic.

This shocking incident occured during a match in Turkey between two amateur clubs: Sanayispor and Dallıcaspor. Mehmet Değirmenci, the player charged with manslaughter, can be seen clearly in the video intentionally fouling Dallıcaspor's Kayhan Karakaş in the moments leading up to the face kick. As soon as the ref pulls out the red card, Değirmenci goes cuckoo cocoa puffs and delivers a violent blow to the unprotected head of Karakaş, who lies curled in a ball on the ground. Probably the most disgusting foul we've ever seen committed on a football pitch.

Mehmet Değirmenci has been charged with attempted manslaughter for his kick to the head of Kayhan Karakaş (Photo: @theNikoner | Twitter)

Luckily, Kayhan Karakaş appears to have recovered. He released a statement after the game saying that he "blacked out" due to the kick to the face and could have died. Which, after watching to footage, doesn't seem like an exaggeration.

"Thank god that kick came near my jaw," Karakaş said. "If it had hit me directly in the face, it could have broken my nose, made me blind or break my neck."

Meanhile, Değirmenci claimed that Karakaş cursed his late mother and that he could not control himself. Which we're sure would have made his mother proud. To their credit, Sanayispor immediately fired Değirmenci and released a statement apologizing to Karakaş, Dallıcaspor and the sports community in general.