“Barcelona players Andres Iniesta and Leo Messi, who were to play a friendly match in Turkey, organised by the ex-Blaugrana Samuel Eto’o, did not travel to Turkey and are in Spain”, the club’s official Twitter account tweeted. But due to security reasons, the match has been canceled according to reports. All the players and the staff members have been taken to safety and Fabio Capello reportedly said: “the news has reached us in Antalya, there’s a bit of anxiety, but here all is quiet”.
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Have no fear Lionel Messi fans, the soccer star was not in Turkey during Friday night’s attempted military coup. Neymar, Luis Suarez, Eden Hazard, Francesco Totti, Michael Essien, Xavi Hernandez, Carles Puyol, Eric Abidal, Jay Jay Okocha, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, Andres Iniesta, Demba Ba, Didier Drogba and Arda Turan were all expected to take part in the game.
According to reports, Messi cancelled his Saturday flight to the country.
Proceeds from the now cancelled match were set to go to the Samuel Eto’o Private Foundation. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will also participate in the match.
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Established ten years ago, the charity was created as a non-profit organization striving to raise awareness of the needs of the African continent.
