Ghana Soccer Player Christian Atsu Missing After Turkey Earthquake
Although several credible sources said that Ghana's Christian Atsu was found alive, Hatayspor manager Volkan Demirel publicly announced that the soccer player is still missing.
Christian Atsu runs during the Newcastle United Training Session at the Newcastle United Training Centre on January 01, 2021 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
Ghanaian soccer player Christian Atsu is still missing, days after two massive earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria. Volkan Demirel, the manager of Turkish football club Hatayspor—the team Atsu plays for—confirmed the news to Reuters on Wednesday.
Demirel said the search for Atsu, who is 31, is ongoing. And there are very few updates.
"There is no information on his whereabouts yet; we don't know where he is," Demirel said. "It's not the case that he was pulled out or taken anywhere else."
It's a confusing update: just yesterday Hatayspor vice president Mustafa Ozat and Ghana's Football Association both declared Atsu was pulled from under the rubble.
Ozat made his claim on Radyo Gol, a Turkish radio station. He said:
“Christian Atsu was removed, injured... We are coming toward the end of the most dangerous hours.”
Even though the news was picked up many outlets, people close to Atsu started to dispute the news.
Nana Sechere, who works as Atsu's agent, was among one of the voices stating that the news break was incorrect, and Atsu was still missing at large.
\u201cFollowing yesterdays update from the club that, Christian had been pulled out alive, we are yet to confirm Christian\u2019s whereabouts. As you can imagine, this continues to be a devastating time for his family and we are doing everything we can to locate Christian.\u201d— Nana Sechere (@Nana Sechere) 1675842038
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which took the lives of over 1,400 people, garnered worldwide attention, and sympathy.
On Monday, Istanbul-based sports journalist Yagiz Sabuncuoglu had shared on Twitter that Atsu and Hatayspor's sports director Taner Savut were both missing, and that a search party was underway to find them at the time. Earlier Reports had also stated that Atsu was on the ninth floor of a building which had collapsed, along with other soccer players, and it is unclear where they were.
Last summer, Atsu joined the Turkish soccer club to primarily play as a winger. Prior to playing internationally for Turkey, Atsu was part of the Magpies team, which contributed to his illustrious career.
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