Football world loses many players in tragic crashes

ANKARA – Turkish footballer Ahmet Calik died in a road accident on Tuesday, reminding everyone that he was not the only player in the football world losing his life in a crash.

Here are some tragic losses that the football world has witnessed:

Czech striker Sural leaves behind his wife, 2 children

Czech striker of Turkish football club Alanyaspor Josef Sural died in a road accident in the Turkish Mediterranean province of Antalya at the age of 28.

On April 29, 2019, the accident happened when a minibus carrying players of Alanyaspor was returning home from an away game with Kayserispor in Turkiye’s central Kayseri province.

Sural succumbed to his injuries in a hospital, leaving behind a wife and two children.

Spanish star Reyes killed in car accident

Spanish footballer Jose Antonio Reyes passed away in a car accident in the southwestern Utrera district of Spain’s Seville city on June 1, 2019.

He was playing for Spanish second-tier club Extremadura when he died at the age of 35.

Reyes was a pure Sevilla product, who had played for the club’s youth setup and reserves.

Standing out as one of the promising young prospects of the early 2000s, Reyes moved to Arsenal – where he would win the Premier League title — in the 2003/2004 season from Sevilla with a fee of career-high €20 million (USD22.4 million).

After spending one season in Real Madrid, Reyes preferred to join their city rivals Atletico Madrid and Portuguese giants Benfica before his return to his home, Sevilla, in 2012.

Reyes obtained league titles while playing for Arsenal and Real Madrid, and won the European League title five times, more than any other player in the history of the competition.

Sala was victim of plane crash

Argentinian football player Emiliano Sala died from head and trunk injuries after the plane taking him to Cardiff from Nantes, France, crashed into the English Channel on Jan. 21, 2019.

Sala, 28, was on his way to join his new club Cardiff City after he signed the contract, but the ill-fated plane carrying him vanished from radars near the Channel Islands.

The wreckage of the plane was found by a private search boat on Feb. 3, 2019.

The body was recovered from the wreckage of the single-turbine airplane.

Born on Oct. 31, 1990 in the Argentinian city Cululu near Santa Fe, Sala mostly played as a striker.

Having Italian roots, Sala spent the majority of his professional career in France as he played for Bordeaux, US Orleans, FC Chamois Niort, SM Caen, and lastly Nantes.

During his football career, Sala played in 200 club matches, where he scored 73 goals in total.

71 people, including Chapecoense team members, killed in plane accident in Colombia

A plane carrying 77 passengers crashed near Medellin in Colombia while en route from Santa Cruz city in Bolivia on Nov. 29, 2016.

The passengers included members of the Brazilian football club Chapecoense and nine crew members while the team was due to play at the 2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals over Colombian team Atletico Nacional in a two-legged home-and-away format.

Only one crew member, three of the players, and two other passengers survived in the plane crash.

8 Manchester United players died in tragic plane crash

A plane carrying Manchester United team players crashed off at Munich Airport when it failed to take off due to severe weather conditions on Feb. 6, 1958.

As a result of the accident, a total of 23 people, including eight Manchester United players lost their lives.

The team was returning from a European Cup tie over Red Star Belgrade and the plane stopped in Munich to refuel.