Sahar, who already referees matches in the Berlin league in the sixth tier of German soccer, has his hopes pinned on officiating at the highest level. Syria's devastating civil war forced him to flee with his wife Loubana via Lebanon in October 2015. The couple had to get there first, however, undertaking the perilous journey from Turkey and across the Aegean Sea toward Greece, the first frontier for most migrants seeking to reach the EU. Before that, a visa stamp on Sahar's passport from Oman had raised a few eyebrows among German police before he explained he had travelled to the Arabian sultanate to referee an under-14 tournament. Soccer is the national sport in Germany so that may have eased his entry into the country. Sahar got in touch with the Berlin football federation and was given three games to referee as a test in the Landesliga Berlin, a level below the Berlin-Liga. Sahar works as a swimming instructor in a local school in Berlin, while juggling German language lessons, referee training and parental duties with Loubana for their son Nidal, born in Berlin not long after the couple's arrival in the German capital on Dec. 3, 2015. The change just adds to the daily challenges. Besides training, parenting, working and learning German - they still have to get a new kitchen installed - Sahar keeps looking on the bright side.
 |
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.sfgate.com |