The story of Saime Akar is the story of how a woman from conservative southeast Turkey became the first professional referee from her region. The 25-year-old referee is ambitious and wants to reach the Turkish Super League as a referee. She’s working hard to achieve that in the men’s world of eastern Turkey. “I’m not afraid of the players taking me seriously or even insulting me”, she told European Journal from Deutche Welle. Saime Akar is the first licensed female referee in eastern Turkey. She was born in a town close to the Iranian border. Akar went to university and is now back in her region as gym teacher in…