July 21 – German international striker Mario Gomez is to quit Turkish club Besiktas due to the political instability caused by the recent coup attempt.
The former Bayern Munich and Stuttgart forward joined the Istanbul side on loan from Fiorentina last summer and scored 28 goals in 41 games as Besiktas won the Turkish league title.
But he has announced on his Facebook page that he will not be returning next season. Though the coup attempt was quashed, there were some 160 fatalities and thousands of arrests and Gomez, who played a key role for Germany at Euro 2016, said he had decided not to stay on.
“It was a difficult decision that I had to think about a lot. I have to tell you Besiktas fans personally that it is very heavy for me that I will not be playing for this great club in front of you wonderful fans in this unique stadium anymore,” Gomez stated.
“The reason for this is completely down to the political situation. There are no sporting or any other reasons that have made me make this decision. It is purely down to the terrible events that happened in the last few days. I hope you can understand that.”
“I hope that these political problems can be solved in a peaceful manner soon. The club and the country grew very close to my heart in this past year.”
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