Turkey: Gaziantep FK to retain coach absent over health

ANKARA

Gaziantep FK announced Monday that the football club will not dismiss head coach Marius Sumudica, though he is currently not in the southeastern Turkish city the club calls home, reportedly due to health issues and coronavirus fears.

"I talked to Sumudica several times before and after this process. He got pneumonia in December and underwent treatment both in Romania and Turkey," Chairman Mehmet Buyukeksi said on the club’s website.

Buyukeksi also said that Sumudica sent him a message saying at present, he is staying in his home country of Romania, which currently has 576 confirmed cases of coronavirus.

Sumudica, 49, flew to Romania on Friday via private plane without informing the club management, said Buyukeksi.

Turkey currently has 1,236 cases of the virus, which people with respiratory disorders are said to be particularly at risk from.