Barcelo's Turkish star Turan quits intertiol football

Ankara, June 9: Turkey’s tiol team captain and Barcelo star Arda Turan has announced his retirement from intertiol football after he allegedly abused a jourlist on the Turkish team’s plane. The 30-year-old Barcelo midfielder was reported to have verbally and physically abused Bilal Mese from the local daily Milliyet on a flight following a friendly against Macedonia in Skopje on Monday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Turan was immediately kicked out of a training camp in Slovenia by coach Fatih Terim with whom he is already on bad terms and quit the tiol team hours later.

On the plane, he allegedly had to be restrained by teammates as he grabbed the jourlist by the throat, swearing at him.

“I think the time has come,” Turan said during a press conference boycotted by Turkish jourlists in solidarity of their colleague.

“I have done wrong while wearing the jersey of my (tiol) team and I am ending my career with the tiol team,” he added.

Turan, who has played 96 times for Turkey since 2006, reportedly approached the jourlist before take-off about a story he had published on the bonuses the team received during the European Championships in France last year, where the player was criticised by media and fans for his poor performance.

Turan reportedly launched an angry rant at Mese, calling him “shameless” and insulting him before accusing him of writing “lies”, according to witnesses, who subsequently talked to TV channels, and they also claimed that Turan choked the jourlist and had to be restrained by his teammates.

Turan, who is one of the most admired sportsmen of the country, added that he felt “no remorse” and was “quite calm”. IANS

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