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Cameroon football legend Samuel Eto’o who currently plays for Antalyaspor in Turkey organized a charity match to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his charitable organization, the Samuel Eto’o Foundation. The group develops programs to help children in Africa. Unfortunately, the event was postponed until further notice because of the attempted coup in Turkey which left close to 200 people dead.
A star-studded match
The charity match, which was initially scheduled to take place on July 16th, 2016, would have been one of the most exciting football friendlies in recent years as many stars had confirmed their participation. Lionel Messi, Neymar, Luis Suarez, Eden Hazard, Francesco Totti, Michael Essien, Xavi Hernandez, Carles Puyol, Eric Abidal, Jay Jay Okocha, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Andres Iniesta, Demba Ba, Didier Drogba and Arda Turan were all expected to take part in the game. A few footballers including Kanu Nwankwo, Jay-Jay Okocha, Stephen Appiah, Michael Essien, Kolo Toure, Carlos Puyol, Deco and Eric Abidal, Marcel Desailly were already in Antalya to support Eto’o.
“Dear all, I am sorry to announce that for security reasons, Eto’o Charity Match, that was supposed to take place today [Saturday] at 8pm at Antalya Arena, is postponed until further notice. I thank each and everyone of you for your continuous support and count on your understanding. #Love,” Eto’o announced on Instagram.
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Promoting Turkey
The festivities, co-organized with the World Tourism Forum, included a World Stars versus Turkey Stars charity match as well as a gala dinner to which an elite community of guests was invited. Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan, who is a former football player, had also agreed to attend the event.
“The match, which will be played with the support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and is expected to make a significant impact on Turkish tourism. About 33,000 people will view the match,” the organizers stated.
New dates have not been announced yet.
SEE ALSO: A Student Tutored Samuel Eto’o For Months Without Knowing Who He Was.
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