The Turkish government announced on Monday the suspension of sports competitions in the country and no date for a resumption. A decision confirmed after the death of more than 2,000 people in a terrible earthquake in the south-east of Turkey. “The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoglu, has announced that all national sports competitions have been suspended until further notice due to the earthquake,” the minister wrote in a statement posted on his Twitter account.
Three meetings of the 23rd day of the SüperLig, the Turkish football championship, were to take place in particular on Monday: two in Istanbul and the third in the east of the country on the shores of the Black Sea. They have been postponed to an unspecified date, the Turkish Football Federation announced. “As announced by our Minister of Youth and Sports, the sports competitions have been postponed. We have therefore postponed the matches of our football leagues,” said the Federation.
“You know, I come from Gaziantep (close to the epicenter). I know the region well,” said the president of the body, Mehmet Büyükeksi. “As president of the Turkish Football Federation, we are at the side of our state and our nation. Today we must act more than ever in unity to heal our wounds together,” he added. .
black banners
On their social networks, most Turkish football clubs, whose profiles and banners are adorned in black, sent messages of condolence and support to the victims of the disaster. Initiatives have also been announced by the sports world, such as the blood drive organized Tuesday morning by the Red Crescent at the Besiktas stadium, in the eponymous district of Istanbul.
The two other major Istanbul clubs, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray, have announced that they are setting up collections of food, equipment, clothing and hygiene kits for the areas affected by the earthquake. Donations are to be brought to the stadiums of both clubs.