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President of Turkish club Genclerbirligi to fine bearded players

The president of Turkish club Genclerbirligi has decided to fine any of his side's players who sport beards by claiming they are a bad influence on youngsters.

Ilhan Cavcav, who sports a moustache himself, will fine players 25,000 Turkish Liras -- around 7,150 pounds -- if they do not follow his demands, and says players such as Olcay Sahan, Volkan Demirel, Selcuk Inan and Besiktas manager Slaven Bilic are setting a poor example.

"I am 80 years old, and I shave every single day," the Guardian reports him as telling the Dogan news agency. "You are a sportsman. You should be a model for the youth."

Cavcav tried to get the Turkish Football Federation chairman Yildirim Demiroren to adopt a nationwide beard ban for players, though railed against UEFA after being informed such a ban would contravene regulations.

"He [Demiroren] told me that they could not impose such a restriction because UEFA would not let them do it," he added. "I am fed up with this UEFA. I wish we had some other place to play our football."

Cavcav would presumably baulk at Aston Villa fan @GarethRDR's attempt to see what each and every member of the Villans' first-team squad and staff would look like with Roy Keane's beard.