Singapore youth football team safely out of Istanbul

SINGAPORE — After spending a day stranded in Turkey’s Antalya Airport amid an attempted military coup in the country. a group of 21 from Singapore’s youth football academy, F17, finally made their way out of the troubled state.

On Sunday (July 17), the team - including 13 children - managed to take a flight out of Antalya to Istanbul, where they caught a connecting flight to the Swedish city of Copenhagen for the Gothia Cup tournament (July 17 to 23), said F17 academy director Mr Nabil Yusoff.

“From Copenhagen airport, with the help of Turkish Airlines and Singapore Airlines we secured a private coach that will take the team directly to our hostel in Gothenburg,” F17 added in a Facebook post.

“Special thanks to our Singapore Airlines team in Istanbul for keeping our boys safe and comfortable! The boys are excited and looking forward to the football.

"Thank you all for the prayers and support, we are almost there."

Mr Nabil said they have informed the tournament organisers that the players may not make it in time or be ready for their opening match against Lizzy FC of Ghana this afternoon. “They said they will see what they can do (to reschedule),” he added.

Last Friday, the team were headed to Istanbul on flight TK55 for transit to Gothenburg for their tournament. But their plane was diverted to the southern Turkish city of Antalya after an attempted military coup erupted in the Turkish capital.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, F17 founder, former Singapore football icon Fandi Ahmad, praised the children for their “courage to soldier on and achieve their dream of playing at the (Gothia) Cup”.