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ISTANBUL (AP)—A former referee is seeking compensation from the Turkey Football Federation for allegedly outing him and dismissing him for being gay.

The Anatolia news agency says referee Halil Ibrahim Dincbag told an Istanbul court on Tuesday that he was unable to find work after documents showing he was exempted from military service because of his homosexuality were leaked to the media two years ago.

Dincbag is seeking 110,000 Turkish lira ($69,000) in compensation from the federation which sacked him two years ago. He also accuses the federation of leaking the documents to the media.

Human rights groups are closely following his case as a test of improvements to gay rights in Turkey.

Labels: compensation, referee, seeks, Turkish

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)—Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is hoping a return to international duty for the Netherlands in a friendly against Austria will help him rediscover a scoring touch that has deserted him at club level.

Huntelaar has not scored for Schalke in nine matches but has been in blistering form for the Netherlands since spending most of the World Cup on the bench during the team’s run to the final in South Africa last year.

He is the top scorer in qualifying for the 2012 European Championship with eight goals in four matches, two more than Miroslav Klose of Germany.

Most of those goals came with Robin van Persie out injured, and the Arsenal striker will also miss Wednesday’s match in Eindhoven because he has the flu.

“I’m looking forward to being back with the Netherlands team this week,” Huntelaar told the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper.

The match at Philips Stadium was to have marked Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong’s return from international exile. Coach Bert van Marwijk recalled De Jong to the squad for the first time since dropping him following his tackle that left Newcastle winger Hatem Ben Arfa with a broken leg in October, but De Jong injured an ankle in Manchester City’s 3-0 win over West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

Also missing for the Netherlands is Tottenham midfielder Rafael van der Vaart with a calf injury. But Inter Milan midfielder Wesley Sneijder is available after recently returning to fitness following an injury.

“I’m fully fit, just in time,” the playmaker said.

The Netherlands has a 100 percent record from its four Euro 2012 qualifiers while Austria also is undefeated so far, with two wins and a thrilling 4-4 draw with Belgium in its last match.

In-form FC Twente striker Marc Janko had hoped to line up for Austria against his club teammates Theo Janssen, Peter Wisgerhof and Luuk de Jong, who was called up Monday to replace Van Persie, but Janko will miss the match with a groin injury.

In the absence of De Jong and Van der Vaart, Janssen looks likely to start Wednesday as defensive midfielder alongside Mark van Bommel.

Austria is missing two more forwards—Stuttgart winger Martin Harnik pulled out after injuring his calf over the weekend, while Red Bull Salzburg forward Roman Wallner damaged a thigh muscle during practice on Monday.

Austria coach Dietmar Constantini called up Roman Kienast as a replacement. The Sturm Graz striker joined the team for the first time since October 2008.

“We don’t have to fear the Netherlands but it’s obvious they are the world’s No. 2 team,” Austria assistant coach Manfred Zsak said. “They are aggressive in defense, want the ball back immediately and like to attack over both wings.”

Defender Emanuel Pogatetz scored his first international goal during a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands in a 2004 European Championship qualifier.

“It would be great to score again on Wednesday,” said Pogatetz, who praised the opponent for their ability to keep the ball in possession.

“The Dutch do that extremely well so we must make sure we don’t give away the ball too easily,” added the Hannover defender, who was expected to play his 40th game for Austria. “We will have to attack them in midfield to keep them away from our penalty area.”

Associated Press writer Eric Willemsen in Vienna contributed to this report.

Labels: Austria, friendly, Huntelaar, scoring, seeks, touch

Captain Alastair Kellock lamented Scotland's costly losses of possession in the RBS 6 Nations opener against France - and head coach Andy Robinson warned Wales are as capable as Les Bleus of exploiting such lapses.

For the 11th time in 12 Six Nations tournaments Scotland suffered defeat on the opening weekend as defending Grand Slam champions France earned a 34-21 victory at the Stade de France. Kellock scored his maiden Scotland try, but it was ultimately in vain as he suffered a first Test defeat as captain.

Kellock said: "I was very pleased with the way we'd started. We'd gone out with the intention of attacking, straight from the kick-off we did reasonably well and then we were turned over out wide. It was probably the story of the game; when they did turn us over they were incredibly clinical. It's disappointing, but something we've got to deal with."

Scotland, whose solitary win on the tournament's opening weekend came in 2006 against France, must address it quickly as on Saturday Wales visit Murrayfield intent on ending an eight-match winless streak.

Robinson knows Wales, like France, have runners capable of capitalising on loose play.

The head coach said: "The Welsh are very good off counter attack and they score a lot of tries off counter attack, so if we give them that amount of ball, we'll be put under pressure.

"I think it's going to be a cracking game."

Labels: Association, KELLOCK, POSSESSION, Press, seeks