REPORTS WE COULDNÕT MAKE UP
1 TAXI FOR HAKAN SUKUR
Former Turkey international Hakan Sukur is working as a taxi driver in the USA these days after being driven out of his home country following a dispute with its ruling president, Recep Erdogan. Sukur, who played at the 2002 World Cup and won the 2000 UEFA Cup with Galatasaray, went into politics after retiring as a player in 2008. He won a seat in parliament in 2011 as a member of the ruling AKP party, but fell out with Erdogan and was accused of plotting to overthrow him as a member of the Gulen opposition movement, which is classed as a terrorist organisation in Turkey. In 2017 he moved to the US in exile, with his wife and children, and says: “I have nothing left, Erdogan took everything: my right to liberty, freedom of expression and right to work. Nobody seems able to explain what my role in this coup was supposed to be. I never did anything illegal, I am not a traitor or a terrorist. “I might be an enemy of this government, but not the state or the Turkish nation. I love my country. “After the split with Erdogan, I started to receive threats. My wife’s shop was attacked, my children were harassed, my father put in prison and all my assets confiscated. “So I moved to the United States, initially running a cafe in California, but strange people kept coming into the bar. “Now I drive for Uber and I sell books.”
2 WONKY LINES DELAY SERIE A GAME
Verona’s recent 2-1 victory at home to Genoa in Serie A had to be delayed by 15 minutes because the penalty-area lines were not straight. Referee Maurizio Mariani noticed the problem at the Stadio Marc’ Antonio Bentegodi during his pre-match inspection of the pitch. Kick-off had to be suspended while Verona ground staff had “to redraw the lines that mark the penalty areas”.
3 CHRISTMAS DAY FOOTBALL FOR EX-PRESIDENT
Now a political refugee in Argentina, the exiled former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, has always been keen to put on a pair of football boots. And it was no different this Christmas Day when he joined in a game with members of the Bolivian community in the Argentinian capital at the Campo De Deportes del Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires. Morales who was forced to resign following a wave of protests, and under pressure from police and the military in his homeland, spent a month in Mexico before arriving in Argentina in December, having fled Bolivia when a warrant was issued for his arrest.
4 PORTUGAL TRIUMPH ON THE BEACH
Portugal beat Italy to win their third Beach Soccer World Cup. A hat-trick from Jordan Santos, two goals from Leo Martins and one from Lourenco gave the Portuguese a 6-4 win over their opponents in Paraguay. Now held every two years, Portugal also won the tournament in 2015 and 2001, making them the second-most successful country in the beach soccer format. They still, however, have a long way to go to catch up with Brazil, who have won the tournament 14 times since it began in 1995.