A 13-member team of Singapore footballers from Fandi Ahmad’s F-17 Academy have been stranded at Antalya Airport in Turkey after the attempted military coup in Istanbul and Ankara.
The flight was supposed to land in Istanbul, about 675km away from Antalya yesterday.
The team – comprising 13 children, two coaches and six parents – were stuck for 15 hours at Antalya Airport after disembarking from their Turkish Airlines flight at 10am yesterday morning.
F-17 Football Academy
Mr Nabil Yusoff, the academy’s director, told The New Paper on Sunday (TNPS) over the phone: “Nobody seems to be attending to them there.
“It is worse because now they are trying to transfer our kids, coaches and parents to Terminal 1 because of the overcrowding, and they may have to stay there overnight.”
The team were set to take their next flight to Copenhagen after transiting in Istanbul and were scheduled to head to Gothenburg, Sweden, for the Gothia World Youth Cup 2016.
FRUSTRATION
F-17 Academy founder Fandi Ahmad said on the academy’s Facebook page at 7pm yesterday: “We are doing everything within our means to get you out of there.
“We can only imagine your frustration at being confined to the airport and having to queue for toilet, water and food.
“At the same time, we are relieved to hear that everyone is safe and well.”
It is understood that Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials are in contact with the players and are offering them consular assistance.
But two parents with the team in Antalya described the situation there as chaotic.
Madam Lee Suk Houn, who is with her son Kilgore Walter Seung-Lee, told TNPS via e-mail: “No one has said anything to us in the five hours we have been here.
“(There are) so many people here… who knows when we will be able to get out!”
Another parent, Madam Radhika Radhakrishnan, who is also in Antalya with husband Raveen Kumar Thedj and son Rayan Kumar Thedj, said: “There is no official or anyone of that sort here to give us updates.
“Neither is there a communication channel. Only loads of people from different flights sitting around everywhere.”
Reuters, AFP
This article was first published on July 17, 2016.
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