Players from Turkish club Galatasaray have donated their salaries to victims of the earthquake that left more than 35,000 dead and millions homeless in Turkey, the club’s president announced on Wednesday. The Turkish football league is currently suspended for an indefinite period.
While the number of victims of the earthquake continues to increase (at least 39,000 dead), the players of the Turkish club Galatasaray donated their salaries to finance the numerous aid operations but also to help the millions of -shelter whose dwellings were destroyed or damaged by the earthquake. “Many of our players have given up their salaries to [financer] earthquake relief operations,” Dursun Özbek said at a press conference.
Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Besiktas (the two other big Istanbul clubs) have also launched donation campaigns, sending aid trucks to the southern and southeastern provinces of the country devastated by the February 6 earthquake.
Championship suspended
The Turkish Premier League was suspended after the earthquake, and two Süper Lig clubs (Hatayspor and Gaziantep FK) decided to withdraw. These two clubs are located in particularly affected provinces. Ghanaian striker Christian Atsu, a Hatayspor player, has still not been found nine days after the earthquake.
League matches are set to resume on March 3, the president of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) has announced. Galatasaray, the most successful club in Turkey, occupies the first place in the ranking after 22 days.