I thought Cizre was Rize, Ivory Coast footballer says after transfer

ISTANBUL

A footballer from the Ivory Coast who moved to regional amateur league club Cizrespor in 2014 has admitted that he mistook Cizre for Rize due their similar pronunciations, only realizing his mistake after his transfer.

“While I was playing for Antalyaspor in the past I did not hear about anything Cizre. Then when I was playing in Tunisia I agreed to sign for Giresunspor but I could not be transferred as the preparations of my documents was not completed,” the 33-year-old Serge Djiehoua told in an interview with news website kramponlupisagor.com

He said his manager then called him and told him about interest from Cizrespor.

“My manager called me and said a football team named ‘Cizrespor’ wanted to sign me. I accepted it because I heard ‘Cizrespor’ as ‘Rizespor.’ But when I arrived at the airport I realized that it was Cizre, not Rize. I have no idea about Cizre or where it is,” Djiehoua added.

Cizre is a district in the southeastern province of Şırnak, which has seen fierce clashes between Turkish security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Rize is a province in the northern Black Sea region and its club Çaykur Rizespor currently plays in the Turkish Super League.

“My career in Cizre was only short. I was afraid because of the protests that started over Kobane so I left,” Djiehoua said.