The drama in Turkey also affects sport: a desperate search for athletes, including a former Premier League player

The tragedy that strikes Turkey and Syria following the earthquakes produced in the last few hours is no stranger to sport. During this Monday, the desperate search for several athletes kept federations and clubs in that region in suspense, including the footballer Christian Atsu, who played for Chelsea in England and for Málaga in Spain, and on Sunday had transformed the goal with which his Hatayspor team won the hour.

Atsu, like sports director Taner Savut, were trapped when the building where the team was housed collapsed after the game.

Volkan Demirelformer goalkeeper of the Turkish national team and current Hatayspor coach, has launched a dramatic request for help to find his players who have not yet been found after the earthquake.

Málaga from Spain, a club for whom Atsu also played, also joined the prayers. “Our thoughts are with him and his family at this time of terrible distress,” she wrote.

A similar situation suffered the goalkeeper Eyup Turkaslan, of Matalyaspor of the Turkish Second Division, wanted in the rubble. Local media reported that his wife was saved alive, but said they have yet to hear from the player.

There was even speculation about his death which was denied by club president Haci Ahmet Yaman. “The news of Ahmet Eyüp Türkaslan’s death does not reflect the truth. Another earthquake occurred while relief efforts were underway. Therefore, the teams withdrew. I hope we will have good news soon,” he explained.

The 28-year-old footballer was in the city of Malatya in the southeast of the country when the seismic movement centered on Kahramanmaraş hit the population.

Yilmaz Vuralcoach of the team, expressed his anguish: “I gave the team two days of rest after the Rize match (defeat against Rizespor on Saturday, ed), he confided. Most of the players weren’t in Malatya. Only our second goalkeeper Ahmet Eyüp Türkaslan was there. They saved his wife. I’m devastated.”

Dozens of missing athletes

Dozens of Turkish athletes from disciplines such as football, volleyball, handball or wrestling were buried under the rubble of houses and hotels after the collapses caused by the 7.7 magnitude earthquake which has already caused nearly 1,800 deaths.

The fate of most of the players on the men’s volleyball team of this eastern Anatolian city, which plays in the Turkish second division, is also unknown. The players were buried in the rubble of the Kircuval hotelwhere they were staying. Three team members were saved.

In the same situation are fourteen players of Hatay, the women’s volleyball team from the provincial capital city of the same name in the far south of Turkey, and the players of Marasspor of the Turkish Second Division.

Turkish coach and Olympic wrestling medalist Taha Akgul wrote on Twitter that between thirty and forty athletes of the wrestling team of the city of Kahramanmaras – capital of the province of the same name in southeastern Anatolia – are trapped under the rubble and they need help urgently.

The tragedy also affected handball. Turkish handball international Cemal Kutahya and Hatayspor coach Savas Yuksel are also under the ruins of one of the collapsed buildings in Hatay, according to a statement by the Turkish Handball Federation. Rescue teams try to save them.

The epicenter of the powerful earthquake was identified in Pazarcik in the province of Kahramanmaras, according to the Turkish emergency service Afad, although the Kandilli seismic observatory locates it in Sofalici, in the neighboring province of Gaziantep, about 40 kilometers further south.