Asamoah Gyan, a former captain of the Black Stars, thinks that Christian Atsu’s untimely departure will humanise football and help Ghanaians understand that, at the end of the day, athletes are just regular people.
According to Asamoah Gyan, people often forget that football players are regular people and hold them to a higher standard of moral behaviour due to the wealth and luxury that come with the profession.
In a Peace FM interview, the legendary footballers expressed their opinion that Atsu’s passing provides a chance for people to reconsider their opinions of footballers and stop giving them a bad rap.
After Atsu’s passing, according to Gyan, the criticism of football players should stop because Ghanaians now understand the sacrifice that players make.
“This is the time for some Ghanaians to respect our jobs. We’ve been criticised for all these years for taking the tax payer’s money, but they forget that every professional gets paid for what they do. They don’t know the risk we go through. People only see us on TV with our flashy lifestyle, but we put our lives on the line.
“This was someone people depended on; now he is gone. This is the time for people to respect us. The disrespect is too much. I’m sure people are now beginning to understand what we go through. Sometimes we play in war-torn countries. We deserve the pay we get. This is an example for everyone. I’m in pain, but it’s a natural disaster. We will do all we can to support the family,” he said.
Asamoah Gyan also paid tribute to Christian Atsu and hinted at plans to organize a farewell match for the former Newcastle star.
“I’m planning to organize a game to raise money for the family. I believe when that day comes, everyone including the stars will come on board to support us so that we can raise funds for the family of Christian Atsu,” he said.
Asamoah Gyan was a close pal of Atsu and has already visited the family to commiserate with them following the passing of their beloved.
He has been mourning the death of his friend since his body was recovered from his destroyed apartment on Saturday, February 18, 2023.
Background
A powerful earthquake struck South-eastern Turkey, near the Syrian border, killing more than 40,000 people as they slept and trapping many others in the early hours of Monday.
The US Geological Survey said the 7.8 magnitude tremor struck at 04:17 local time (01:17 GMT) at a depth of 17.9km (11 miles) near the city of Gaziantep.
Hours later, a second quake, which had a magnitude of 7.5, hit the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras province.
Hatayspor winger Christian Atsu was one of the club’s seven employees who lost their lives after the disaster.