Earthquake in Turkey: shock after the death of a local football goalkeeper and the tears of his DT when he broke the news

The earthquakes that shook Monday a Turkey AND Syria -and which has caused more than 5,400 deaths and 20,000 injuries- has hit the world of sport hard. In the first of these countries, dozens of athletes from disciplines such as football, volleyball, handball or wrestling were reported to have been buried under the rubble of houses and hotels after the collapses caused by the magnitude 7.7 earthquake. During the day, some were rescued, as happened to the Ghanaian footballer Christian Atsuwho plays hayatspor-; but it wasn’t all good news. He Malatyasporof the second division of Turkish football, has confirmed the death of its goalkeeper Ahmet Eyup Turkaslan.

The unfortunate information was confirmed by none other than Yilmaz Vurala veteran Turkish football manager who spoke on television and broke down in tears as he shared what happened to his goalkeeper with the public.

“Our goalkeeper, Ahmet Eyüp Türkaslan, lost his life after falling in the collapse of the earthquake. May he rest in peace. We will not forget you, beautiful person,” the club reported on its social networks.

Eyup Turkaslan was 28 years old. Born on September 11, 1994 a Yavuzeli, a city located about 750 kilometers southeast of Ankara and about 80 kilometers from the border with Syria. He started his career in bugsaspor in 2013 and went through osmanlispor (2016-2020) and Ümraniyespor (2020-2021), before signing a contract with the Malatya team in July 2021.

After Monday’s earthquake, local media reported that Eyüp Türkaslan was one of the athletes buried under the remains of the building where he lived with his wife. There was even speculation about his death, based on a statement from Yilmaz Vuralhis team’s coach, who commented: “I gave the team two days off after the match against Rizespor. Most of the players weren’t in Malatya. There was only our second goalkeeper, Ahmet Eyüp Türkaslan. They saved his wife… I’m devastated”.

Those words, added to a tweet from the club itself, which said “Our prayers are with you…”, along with a photo of the goalkeeper, versions of his death were filmed. The president of Malatyaspor, Haci Ahmet Yamancame out quickly to disprove that rumor.

“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 receive good news soon,” explained the leader.

But soon after, it was officially confirmed that Eyüp Türkaslan’s body had been rescued lifeless from under the rubble.

After the earthquake, dozens of Turkish athletes were trapped by collapsing buildings. It has been reported that Taner Savut, sporting director of Hatayspor, was buried together with Atsu, a former Newcastle and Chelsea player. Most of the players of the Malatya men’s volleyball team, which plays in the second division of the Turkish league, were also staying in a hotel in eastern Anatolia. And fourteen players of the hataiwomen’s volleyball team from the city of the same name, located in the extreme south of Turkey.

Meanwhile, the coach of the Turkish national team and Olympic medalist in wrestling Taha Akgul warned on Twitter that between thirty and forty athletes on the city’s wrestling team of kahramanmaras, were trapped under the rubble. And from the Turkish Handball Federation they assured that the player Cemal Kutahya and the Hatayspor coach, Savas Yukselthey were under the ruins of one of the collapsed buildings in Hatay.

Some have already been saved, but others are still missing.